


ACT 6 ACT 5: Breaking the Continuum

by calumTraveler



Series: Stargate: Alternia [12]
Category: Hiveswap, Homestuck, Stargate - All Media Types, Stargate SG-1
Genre: A few musical sequences in this fic too, Alternate Timelines, And a Spades Slick sense of Humor, Ba'al is a HUGE CREEP, Confusing family relations are the norm, Decapitation, Don't copy to another site, Doomed Timelines, Goa'uld (Stargate), Goa'uld possession induced dubious consent, It's: The Grandfather Paradox: The Movie, Multi, Occasional Musical Content, Stargate: Continuum, The Game Over of Stargate, The Horrors of realizing that you're living in a doomed timeline, Time Travel, Tok'ra (Stargate), Watching a Timeline colapse around you is not fun, When Interviwers have their own agendas that feel so hateful, add a sudden but inevitable backstabbing too, and puns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:53:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 37,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21548656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calumTraveler/pseuds/calumTraveler
Summary: "Well, we knew this was coming eventually, I guess. Just... didn't think it'd happen like This.""At least we know some of us should make it, right, Cam?""I wouldn't call 'living out the rest of our days stuck in the past' as 'making it,' Cassie."
Series: Stargate: Alternia [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/836265
Comments: 89
Kudos: 14





	1. A6A5: ACT 0: Opening Sequence.

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome, welcome, new readers and old, to ACT 6 ACT 5. 
> 
> ...If you're stumbling upon this series for the first time, IDK if this act is self contained enough to realistically be able to be read without knowing what's going on- I mean, I think it is? But, like... You're *probably* going to want to atleast read back through--
> 
> > CAL: Stop Rambling And Insert DVD For Stargate Continuum Already! WE KNOW THE DRILL!
> 
> Hm? What? Oh, sure. Fine. I guess at this point anybody seeing that this is, what, part 12 of a soon to be 14 part series is probably gonna either be scared off or jump back to the beginning anyways. So. Alright. Fine.
> 
> In goes the di-
> 
> Wait. Where's the Disk?
> 
> ...Crap. I don't have the Disk with me.
> 
> Okay, you know what we'll get through this! We'll just stream it instead.
> 
> >CAL Navigate to STREAMDVD.SKAIANET
> 
> There we are! Handily broken up into ACTS! 
> 
> *CLICKS PLAY*

[In the Blackest Void...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1OfX-0Q0tY) Lights begin to click on, flickering to life.

**MIKARI AIIKHO PRESENTS**

  
[0:03]  
  
A terminal powers on, glowing with Stargate Glyphs.  
  


  
**A SKAIANET/MARTIN LLOYD PRODUCTION**

  
  
Laying on the desk next to the terminal are a series of journals and notebooks and other information, scattered around a yellow orb.

  
**IN ASSOCIATION WITH**  
  
**THE LANGFORD ESTATE**

The Orb begins to glow, and a projection of star maps appears above it.  
  
[0:11]  
  
The camera pushes in towards the Sol Solar system, nine planets in total, with a direct dive towards the third planet from the sun.

**A SKAIANET FILM**

A block of text in ANCIENT appears above the planet Earth, with an omega like glyph flickering over top before it vanishes, and then is replaced with the Pyramid and Sun glyph of Earth's Giza Stargate.  
  
The Glyph stays centered in the screen as the title card writes itself into view.  
  
[0:30]

  
**STARGATE**  
  
**CONTINUUM**

As the text fades away, the facility's Stargate comes into focus, even as Earth blurs out of sight.  
  
[0:42]  
  
The camera pans over the documents on the table around the projector, focusing on an open folder containing CAMERON MITCHEL's medical history.  
  
The camera pans clockwise, past a photograph of CASSANDRA FRAISER and JUDE HARLEY, post Abydos with an infant Penny in Cassie's arms.

It continues clockwise, past the Avalon Mission Report, showing separate photos of JONAS QUINN, reading an ancient book, and VALA MAL DORAN, posing in a lounge over a vast pile of gold.  
  
A Psychology Profile Report on MORDRED PENDRAGON follows suit.  
  
[1:04]  
  
It continues to cycle, past a pair of newspaper articles- one on JACK O'NEILL and SAMANTHA CARTER'S wedding, and the other on JAKE HARLEY'S murder within his own home's basement.  
  
Continuing clockwise down the paper trail of documents, past an NID report on the death/ascension of DANIEL JACKSON. Past an internal SGC DOCUMENT follows showing GEORGE HAMMOND's replacement of General West.   
  
Photographs of TEAL'C of the Free Jaffa Nation and EGERIA of the Tok'ra are pinned to a document pertaining to the ATLANTIS CHARTER, along with a photograph of Lord El Melloi the Second and ARTORIA GRAY peering out from beneath the document itself.  
  
And then finally, an internal Threat Assessment of the Goa'uld SYSTEM LORD BA'AL.  
  
[1:28]  
  
The camera focuses past that report now onto the man himself, reaching a hand out for the dialing device.  
  
His hand hovers over the first glyph, and then his eyes flash as he smirks and presses it.  
  
[1:40]  
  
The Stargate starts spinning to Life, and the camera focuses on its ring as it spins through the track, Chevrons lighting up in sequence around it, one after the other.  
  
Ba'al gathers up his documents with a swift Captchalogue, smirking at the Gate even as his Jaffa prepare themselves for the mission to come.  
  
A timer counts down on the hologram of Earth, and elsewhere, a star flashes in alert as a Solar Flare begins to form.  
  
[2:00]

The Gate KAWOOSHES open, and Ba'al's Jaffa prepare themselves to travel through, waiting for the signal of the flashing red siren that begins to pulse above the Stargate itself.  
  
Ba'al takes his position, and smirks, knowing he is not to be denied his ambitions.  
  
He checks his watch, smirks wider, and rolls his shoulder with anticipation.  
  
This plan was utterly foolproof. There was no room for error because he had written it all out of existence.  
  
The Alarm flashes green, and the Jaffa Begin stepping through.  
  
[2:22]   
  
The First Jaffa drops a ramp before stepping through-  
  
The Second passes behind him.  
  
The Third.  
  
The Fourth.  
  
Ba'al himself as the fifth.  
  
And then another Sixth Jaffa with a large sphere over his shoulders.  
  
The Seventh Jaffa passes through-  
  
The Light flashes red and the Gate shuts down.  
  
All lights in the facility then go dark, and the scene fades to black...  
  


* * *

[The screen remains black](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhy3qfcRQCs), as text fades into view.  
  
**EARTH DATE: JUNE 21TH, 2003.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 01/01/0007.**

* * *

[0:19]  
  
Then, Everything fades into view, as the Camera pans down the backside of the Stargate- the active wormhole alarms blaring quietly before going silent as the wormhole shut down and SG-9 stood at the base of the ramp, shaking the rain off of their soaked jackets.

[0:29]  
  
_"Welcome back, SG-9,"_ Walter says from the control room. _"Stay in the Gate Room, General Landry is on his way down for a quick de-brief."_  
  
The camera maneuvers past SG-9, heading towards the Gate room side entrance that Landry is now walking in through with a "Welcome Back, SG-9."

Then, the camera darts past into the hallway, pushing along side, circling around Sergent Siler as he heads into the Gate Room, and then the camera heads on up into the Control Room.  
  
Walter Harriman is speaking to an airman at a table, "So, after ten years and about a thousand email requests, I finally got my own parking spot. Two Days after everything in Pegasus happens! I tell you I feel-"  
  
[1:00]  
  
The camera drifts out of range as it attaches itself to a grinning Major Karkat Vantas, going down the stairs on the other side of the room, and following him down past the Elevator, where Major Davis Strider is just exiting.  
  
"Major," Davis greets.  
  
"Major," Karkat greets in turn.  
  
The camera follows Davis and Karkat down the hallway, before turning left where a few members of SG-1 are heading down the hallway from the ready-room.

[1:22]

Cameron Mitchel, Jude and Cassandra Harley, Mordred Pendragon, and Jonas Quinn-- all of them dressed in desert uniforms and ready to head through the gate.  
  
"Morning, SG-1!" Davis greets. "Have fun out there!"  
  
"Thank you, Major!" Mitchel nods in return.  
  
SG-1 enters the Gate Room, and Landry smiles. "Dial it up, Walter! They're right on schedule!"   
  
The Stargate begins to spin up.

[1:38]  
  
"So all anyone can talk about is this Extraction Ceremony," Mordred begins. "Is it really all that great?"  
  
Jude and Cassandra give each other a look, then say, in a rehearsed way, "It's something you've just got to see for yourself."  
  
_"Chevron One, Encoded,"_ Walter announces.  
  
"Hey, sure you don't want to come along, Sir?" Mitchel asks of Landry. "I hear there might never be another one of these."  
  
"Tempting as it is, I've got paperwork to get done," Landry laughs. "Besides, one general looking over your shoulders should be enough, yeah?"  
  
"Speaking of Jack..." Jonas starts.  
  
_"Chevron Two, Encoded."_  
  
"He, Doctor Carter, Doctor Jackson, Skaara, and Teal'c all already went ahead with SG-3 to hand over the prisoner," Landry says. "They're all waiting on the other side."  
  
"I hear half of the free Jaffa Nation's standing guard over the Tok'ra Home world to ensure that this execution goes off without a hitch," Mordred says.  
  
That's when Vala strides in- hefting a big fucking gun in arm. "You know better than that, Newbie! This is an extraction, not an execution."  
  
_"Chevron Three, Encoded,"_ Walter reports.  
  
[2:02]

Everyone looks at Vala, and she sheepishly replies, "Oh, well, this is just in case someone tries to stop it."  
  
"NOOOPE!" Mordred grabs the gun. "Nope nope nope! Siler!!" He hands the big fucking gun and hands it over to an unsuspecting and startled Siler. "You're not ruining my first and last extraction ceremony carrying this!"  
  
"Awh!" Vala pouts.  
  
"This is your first, eh?" Mitchel smirks.   
  
"Yeah, of course it is," Mordred nods.  
  
"Well, this should be interesting, given it's Ba'al," Mitchel says.  
  
_"Chevron Four, Encoded."_  
  
"It'll blow your mind," Landry says, sounding somewhat sarcastic. Or perhaps Punny, it was hard to tell with him.  
  
"It is pretty incredible," Cassandra finally speaks up. "From a visual standpoint it's... like... how does that even work?"  
  
"Eh," Jude shrugs. "It's just your basic point to point transportation meta-construct. It's basically a-"  
  
"Aahaha!" Cassie interrupts her darling husband. "Nooo! No spoilers please!"  
  
_"Chevron Five, Encoded."_

[2:36]  
  
"Witnessing it is one thing," Vala says, growing quiet. "To feel the sensation of a symbiote that's puppeteered you around for years, while you watched helplessly from the darkest recesses of your mind, as it's finally excised from your body and left to writhe in the light of day?"  
  
Everyone stares at her for vastly different reasons for a very long moment, the silence only punctuated with a _"Chevron Six, Encoded."_  
  
[3:10]

Then, Vala smiles, and says, "Well, that's incredible to me."  
  
_"Chevron Seven..."_  
  
All eyes turn to the Stargate.  
  
_"Is Locked."_  
  
**_WAAA WAAAA!_**  
  
**_KAWOOOOOOSH!_**  
  
"That never gets old," Mordred grins.  
  
"I know, right?" Mitchel smiles as well.  
  
"Good luck, SG-1," Landry nods to them. "I'll leave the light on."  
  
And with that, SG-1 steps up to the Ramp, across its sloped surface, and then steps through the Stargate.

[3:26]  
  
The wormhole flares- green hued as it always is to those able to view this outside perspective normally. It spirals, and twists and turns, darting across Milky Way.  
  
However, as it traverses, there's a flare of another wormhole- a purple hued interloper- that dashes across the galaxy in another direction for a moment.  
  
Were the members of SG-1 traveling able to perceive that wormhole in that moment, they surely would have thought its presence off and out of place.  
  
But during normal wormhole travel, these kinds of visual oddities go unnoticed to those inside of the wormhole itself.  
  
It's only when something goes drastically wrong that any kind of anomaly is noted by those inside the wormhole itself.  
  
And this was not one of those moments.  
  


* * *

  
  
Elsewhere in the universe, a thread on a large green coat tore, and a needle on a record player jumped for a moment, almost like a hiccup.  
  
A certain time traveling tailor looked up from his newspaper, and frowned, chewing on the end of his cigarette with a concerned look on his face. Should he go and fix that tear now, or leave it to his past self to clean up? That was the question, wasn't it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PAUSE FOR THE DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY:
> 
> So that was basically just, two opening sequences in sequence, one after the other. One original, the first half which was partially inspired by the original STARGATE's opening credits, and one that was copied almost entirely from the original opening sequence of Continuum. 
> 
> The original Ba'al-goes-through-Gate sequence was written *ages back.* Probably back around the start of A6A4 if not earlier. Beyond some tweaks and edits here in this posting that had me updating the credits to properly show who's showing up in this story in a major role, it hasn't changed much from the original draft in terms of overall imagery and execution.
> 
> The idea was to work in the standard cast listing of who's staring in the thing, while working around the fact that only half of the cast has actual actor names behind them, while framing and setting up the plot for the Movie that's to follow. Ba'al's done his research, and what better way to list all the colorful cast of characters in this movie than to show them laid out on a table like this?
> 
> The opening sequence to Continuum is just such a wonderful musical suite that it felt wrong to not use it. I almost didn't, so I apologize if some of the timing is off if you try to make it follow. It was very much a last minute edit back into the flow of the writing, and I think the scene is paced a little bit differently than the original.
> 
> Mordred takes Mitchel's canonical never having seen an extraction ceremony before role in this sequence, given that Mitchel was around for a whole extra year in this timeline than he was in canon Stargate. 
> 
> We get some cuteness from Cassie and Jude! 
> 
> Vala's lines and actions are copied pretty much verbatim from canon when it comes to Goa'uld possession- though there's an interesting twist I have in mind when using it here. To say more is Spoilers, though.
> 
> Finally, Stitch. His long alluded appearance is finally happening! Also- the long alluded to EVERYTHING about Continuum's time loop is about to happen! I've been sitting on this movie since *ACT 1* when Joey first found a pic of the Achilles with a hole in its side!! 
> 
> You're all in for a wild ride with this movie, folks. I had such a blast writing it, I hope you all enjoy what I've got down for this one. X33
> 
> Also, I'm going to post this chapter now, that it's all done and ready. This is *technically* monday's chapter, though. So, uh... YEAH. Anyways! See you in the next chapter!


	2. A6A5: ACT 1: Extraction, Take One.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A.N.:  
> Due to IRL needing me to likely be away from the computer most of the day, you're getting this chapter early too.... Might just be the schedule that happens with this act, who knows yet.

The Tok'ra homeworld was a massive, spiraling metropolis of glimmering silver towers, surrounding a large pyramid within a desert.  
  
In the large, very spacious, almost arena like chamber within the Pyramid, hundreds of figures stood, observing. Many, wearing hooded cloaks, were Tok'ra, speaking loudly in a way that could be construed as chanting. Others, Jaffa, stood with weapons ready.  
  
In one end of the room is Ba'al, standing in a stasis chamber of Ancient design. His clothes are simple, befitting of a prisoner about to be slain... and yet... humble.  
  
Befitting of a man about to be released from an eternal torment.  
  
Standing in a row, watching it all, was SG-1... and almost all of their expressions ranged from bored, to tired, to confused.   
  
Only Skaara stood, simple, waiting, looking on with amusement. Beside him was General Jack O'neill, looking about ready to yawn. Samantha Carter stood next to him, idly holding Jack's hand. Next to her was Teal'c, a contemplative look on his face. Daniel was next to him, mumbling along in Tok'ra with the other chanters. Jonas was after him, seemingly trying to keep track of something inside his head. Then came Vala, bored. Mitchel, bored. Mordred, idly shifting from leg to leg as if to keep his limbs from falling asleep where he stood. Jude, nodding off and trying not to. Cassandra.... Worried.  
  
A frown resided on her face, and she felt as if something had started to go wrong the moment they'd arrived. Something... off.  
  
Like how you can tell there's a loose thread in your clothing but you can't tell where the weak seam is and if you kneel down just right you risk the butt-seam of your pants ripping open.  
  
O'neill yawns- rather much for show. As everyone of SG-1 glances at him, quietly, he remarks, "Never, in the history of boredom, has anyone been more bored. Than I am. Right. Now."  
  
"C'mon, Jack, it's only been..." Sam glances at her watch, and winces. "Oof."  
  
"It's almost over," Daniel says.  
  
Eyes all turn to him.  
  
"The crimes they're listing started sounding familiar two minutes ago," Daniel pauses, even as Jack boggles, and then asks, "What?"  
  
 _"Crimes?"_ O'neill asks. "That's what they've been chanting about for the last three hours?"  
  
"Sure beats a ditty about Jack and Diane," Mitchel mumbles.  
  
"It's not at all fair to the host," Vala says.  
  
"Vala..." Jonas glances at her. "You don't think there's any hope for-? I mean. You were possessed by Qetesh for a pretty short period of time, but Ba'al's been in that guy for almost two thousand years."  
  
And then Queen Egeria removes her hood, and intones- **"Revive the Prisoner!"**  
  
The frozen ice field around Ba'al retracts, and the Goa'uld takes a deep breath of air as he shakes out the cobwebs, proverbially speaking.  
  
"Watch him try and make a run for it," Vala mutters.  
  
"With all this security?" Jonas glances around. "I don't think he's going to get far."  
  
There as a sound not unlike a thread tearing in clothing, and when Jonas looked back, Vala was missing.  
  
"...Vala?" He frowns.  
  
Teal'c and Mitchel look around as well, and Cassandra grows pale, a bit of sweat beading up on her forehead.  
  
"Oh no," she mutters. "Here we go again."  
  
"Cassie?" Jude looks to her, concern flaring in his eyes.  
  
She shakes her head, "Vibes are acting up. Something's wrong."  
  
 **"The Prisoner will step forwards!"** Egeria calls, and Ba'al steps out of the stasis chamber. Four Jaffa Guards activate their Zats, and aim at him.  
  
"Well," Ba'al remarks, sounding remarkably calm in his human tone of voice. "This is a frosty reception if ever I've seen one."  
  
 **"Ba'al,"** Egeria speaks, narrowing her eyes at the Goa'uld. **"Last of the Goa'uld System Lords. Murder of untold millions. These are your last words. Speak."**  
  
Ba'al smirks. "I've nothing to say to the Tok'ra, but..." He glances at SG-1, and takes a few short steps down a staircase, and then across the room over to them. " _Well well well_ , if it isn't _SG-1 Squared._ In the Flesh."   
  
"How's it going, Boccie Ball?" Jack asks.  
  
"Oh, I've been better, I'm afraid," Ba'al glances around at the room, smirking. "You?"  
  
"Oh, not so bad, actually," Jack smiles, sounding jovial and happy. "Quite good, all things considered. We missed you at the wedding!"  
  
"How Nice for you," Ba'al grimaces. "And I do so wish I could have made it." He eyed the team. "I hear there was quite a fireworks show at the end."  
  
Mordred frowned, "How the...?"  
  
"So, about those last words?" Jack asks.  
  
"...Fine," Ba'al smiles. He glances at SG-1. "Where to start.... Oh. No Vala? I was hoping to see my Dear Qetesh one last time."  
  
"Well, Vala was here," Jonas answers, frowning.  
  
Ba'al smiles. "How _interesting."_  
  
"Oh, she's probably gone to the bathroom," Jack says. "I'm next in line, by the way. So, can we get on with those last words so I can go?"  
  
"Fine," Ba'al smiled, looking at Cassandra. "Dear little Cassandra Fraiser, I'll deliver this warning to you alone. You've all made a terrible mistake."  
  
"That's what they all say," Daniel says.   
  
"There can be no doubt of your crimes," Skaara speaks up. "You are the last, and you will pay for them."  
  
"No, what I mean to say is," Ba'al says. "I may be the last of the System Lords in this time, but I'm definitely not the last of the Clones."  
  
"Mitchel?" Jack looks to the man.  
  
"We tracked them all, Sir," Mitchel says. "There aren't any more transponders out there."  
  
"You sure?" Jack asks. "That is, after all, why we've come and listened to three hours of crime chants."  
  
"Jude?" Mitchel passes the ball.  
  
"Uh, well," Jude adjusts his glasses. "As you know, in order to track his clones, Ba'al gave each of them a tracking device detectable from anywhere in the galaxy. Now he also placed one in himself, so we wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a clone and the original."  
  
"And AS the Original, he was the only one who could remove his device without needing a Knife and a death sentence," Ba'al speaks. "That said, even if he hadn't removed that tracker, he's no longer HERE. Off the tracker's grid, as it were. So you see, the last of the Goa'uld System Lords, the last of my dear brothers, is still out there, and since, as of this moment he knows he's the last, he has very special plans for you."  
  
"'Plans,' you say," Jack mutters.  
  
"We have in our hands a fail safe device should an unfortunate circumstance, say," Ba'al smirks, "the last clone's imminent death, arise. It was you all who gave us the idea, actually. And I believe it's already been put into action."  
  
There was another sound akin to tearing thread, somewhere in the room, but nobody noticed if anyone went missing, though someone did. And that someone was Skaara.  
  
Teal'c steps up to Ba'al, and glares into the Goa'uld's eyes. "He Lies."  
  
"He does that, you know," Jack smirks.  
  
"We'll see who's lying in the end," Ba'al looks at Cassandra. "Just remember this, if little Damara's prediction is right? You know this isn't my ending, Fraiser." He winks. _"Penny in the air."_  
  
Cassie swallows her fear, and declares, "Don't threaten her."  
  
" _Well! I never!_ Why I'd never harm a hair on her head," Ba'al smirks. "The other me, on the other hand..."  
  
A dawning look of realization forms in Cassie's eyes, but she says nothing. The Vibes don't tell her any response... and its their absence that is more terrifying than anything else.  
  
 **"It is time,"** Egeria intones.  
  
And Ba'al smirks. **"Well, that's my cue,"** he puts on the Voice. _ **"Let's Get This Over With!"** _And he marches over to the nearby extraction table to be strapped in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PAUSE FOR DIRECTORS COMMENTARY:
> 
> One of the main differences in this scene is instead of a RANDOM TOK'RA ELDER, who we most certainly have never really seen before, we actually get EGERIA proceeding over the entire Extraction Ceremony. I felt that it was a much stronger emotional connection to have her running this show rather than somebody we don't know. Admittedly, this was one such planned moment that was among the many factors that had me wanting to save Egeria to begin with, beyond giving the Tok'ra a resurrection bone. 
> 
> Ba'al's ramblings are... mostly different from the canon Continuum dialogue? Beyond a few specific lines of dialogue, it's all original for the most part... Though, I had to keep in Teal'c's "He Lies" line, because. DAMN. 
> 
> The Thread Tearing Sound is more an audible change than a visual one in comparison to canon. It was a mostly silent "woosh" sound at this stage. So... I decided to make it slightly more ominous, and in context of the Cairo Overcoat *tearing* as it is. 
> 
> Time itself is starting to unravel, and it's taking people out one at a time. But, my, what could be happening to cause this??
> 
> ...You're gonna have to wait for the next Chapter to find out: A6A5: ACT 2: Snipping threads. 
> 
> Shit's about to hit the fan.


	3. A6A5: ACT 2: Snipping Threads.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heads up, this is a painful one.

**NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN, 1939.**  
  
The Cargo Ship _Achilles_ steams ahead- westward bound- under the light of a full moon piercing through the frigid clouds and the nighttime air.  
  
The boat is old, with rust visible all over- a sure sign of a long a hearty and successful life at sea- and a captain that knows how to man her proverbial sails through the roughest of times...  
  
A crewman carrying a lantern approaches the Captain's office- his rank a Bosun, and he enters as the Captain relays a course change to the Helmsman.  
  
"Make your course to three, five, zero."  
  
"3-5-0, Aye, Captain," the helmsman leaves.  
  
"We'd be in New York right now if we weren't zigzagging all over the damned Atlantic," the Bosun remarks.  
  
The Captain looks up- and in the light of the lantern, looks remarkably like an elderly Cameron Mitchel with a beard.  
  
"That's because we're not going to New York," the Captain says. "We're going to Boston. We can't make it easy for the U-boats."  
  
"We're not at war yet," the Bosun remarks. "Besides, we're too high in the water for a U-Boat to waste a torpedo."  
  
The boat begins to vibrate- items across every flat surface began vibrating in a race to be the first to the floor. A coffee mug is the winner, and also loser, because it shatters to pieces on the floor.  
  
The captain makes the order- "Check to see the cargo's secure."  
  
"You're never going to tell me what it is, are you?" the Bosun asks.  
  
"If I knew myself," the Captain says.  
  
The Bosun leaves as ordered.  
  


* * *

  
  
In the distant past, a thread tore loose on that same green coat in the exact same spot as it had in the future/present. A record needle jumped, much like a hiccup, just the same.  
  


* * *

  
  
The Bosun enters the rapidly vibrating Cargo Hold, frowning as he hears the sounds of Stargate Chevrons locking in-between sounds of the gate's inner ring rotating.  
  
The Bosun peers at the crate, spying the markings identifying it as from LANGFORD EXPEDITION, 1928.  
  
He stupidly, foolishly, climbs up onto a box to reach for the clasps at the front of the large box containing the Stargate.  
  
 _ **WAAA WAAA!**_  
  
 _ **KAWOOOOOOOSH!**_  
  
The man was vaporized, and a hole was punched in the side of the Achilles. His specific death, though none would realize it, would result in the death of another man later down the line, the butterflies already flapping before the storm had even yet to touch down.  
  


* * *

  
  
A salvo of strings tore free of their mooring within the coat, and a butterfly was sent flapping.  
  
A long, tense, almost spring coiled metal string unwound, snapping, spiraling, swaying out of control- tearing through other threads as it went, snapping and rending and shearing- until one night, a father who could not get over the loss of his son took to the bottle and went out to drive in a terrible storm.  
  


* * *

  
  
 **NEW YORK, JAKE HARLEY'S APARTMENT, 1940.**  
  
Your name is Jake Harley, and you look up from your note work as there's a knock at your apartment door.  
  
The weather outside is loud, wet with rain, and thunderous, and you make haste to head to your apartment door. Best not to leave whoever has come to visit you waiting for long.  
  
You open the door, and find yourself startled to find Catherine Langford standing out there, soaked to the bone, and looking absolutely miserable.  
  
You let her inside without hesitation.  
  
"Catherine? What's wrong?" You ask, closing the door behind you. "You look like you walked here from your apartment without an umbrella! Quick, let's get those clothes off of you..."  
  
"I did, Jake," Catherine sniffs. "It's Earnest... He..."  
  
"What happened to Earnest?" You ask, guiding her to your apartment's bathroom to get changed out of those soaked clothes.  
  
"HE'S DEAD!" Catherine wailed, stomping her foot. "And it's all because my father told him to go rent a boat and go hunt for the Achilles **TONIGHT. _In this god forsaken weather!"_**  
  
"Why the devil would your father order Earnest go after the fucking Achilles for?" you ask. "It can't be the Stairway, can it?"  
  
"I think that's exactly it!" She shakes her head- stripping off wet clothes into the tub without so much of a care for common decency. "He's got it in his head that he's figured out the way to make the damned thing work based off of the cover stones and it- God, Damn it!"  
  
Her rambling becomes unintelligent by way of sobs and frustrated growls- even as she strips down and you clad her soaked form in towels to dry her off as best as you can.  
  
It's clear to you that your friend is hurting of a dangerous thing called heart break- Earnest put the damned job before anything else.   
  
You make a call to her father, to ask her if what Catherine's told you is true...  
  
And what you hear makes you enraged.  
  
Indeed, her own father sent Earnest to either recover the Stairway from where-ever it may lay- a death sentence if ever any of you have heard it- or that he was to break things off with his daughter and never return.  
  
And then a damned drunk driver lost control in the storm and hit Earnest in the middle of the street, killing him instantly, before anything else could happen.

Catherine's father isn't even upset over the turn of fate- stating "Well, if he wanted to be with Catherine so much he wouldn't have gotten hit, now would he?"  
  
You have more than a few unkind words to say to him on the matter regarding that statement. A vast majority of those words are probably career ending in your line of work. But what do you care at this point? It's clear the JOB is all Langford cares about, personally, and not any loss of life anywhere ever. What the hell? You thought he was a better man than this.  
  
You slam the phone into the receiver hard enough to make the damned thing split in two between your hand and the receiver.  
  
Catherine heard it all, of course, and she has this damnable look on her face. One you've seen many a time on some dames... It's the look of a woman who has nothing left to lose and everything to gain.  
  
"My father sent Earnest to die because he didn't want me dating him, huh?" She asks, her tone is... considering.   
  
"That's the way it sounds, yes," you nod.   
  
"Jake... you know I'll always value our friendship and I don't want to do anything that could ruin it, but..." Catherine bites at her lip, and then reminds you that yes, she's currently wearing nothing but a towel by taking it off and wearing nothing instead. "...What do you say we both do something reckless to anger my Father even worse?"  
  
"...For Earnest?" you ask.  
  
"For Earnest," she nods.  
  
Your lips met hers, and your heart skipped a beat like-  
  


* * *

  
  
A record needle, already skipped a few lines, jumps even further off course, making a horrid scratching noise even as existing tears in a large green coat rip even wider, leaking blue smoke from their torn ends.  
  
Were the Tailor present, he would have sworn furiously.  
  
But he was busy elsewhere- far too busy to tend to the backup coat just yet.  
  


* * *

  
  
**DIASPORA, 2003.**

On Diaspora, a hand made cabin, a loving home to a loving family- suddenly vanished, its occupants included.  
  
Elsewhere on the planet, string by painful string, building by building, person by person, the entire settlement of Diaspora began to vanish as well.  
  


* * *

  
  
 **TOK'RA HOMEWORLD.**  
  
Jude Harley clutched at his chest, working his jaw as something didn't feel right.  
  
Egeria swayed on her feet, suddenly, as her host, Joey Harley, felt as if something had just gone horribly wrong.  
  
Ba'al's table began to rise into an upright position.  
  
The Goa'uld smirked the entire way.  
  


* * *

  
  
 **ACHILLES, 1939.**  
  
"That's no Torpedo," the captain of the Achiles swore as the boat finished its sideways lurch from the Stargate opening.  
  
He went to the ship intercom, and transmitted: "EMERGENCY STATIONS! ALL HANDS!" He turned to the Helmsman, "Maintain your heading, Son."  
  
"Aye, sir," the helmsman nodded.  
  
"I'm going to go check for damage," The captain moved towards the under carriage of the ship.  
  


* * *

  
  
Down in the cargo hold, the active Stargate let loose a metal board- a walkway- that slammed into position, forming a ramp over the crates.  
  
Within moments, several Jaffa exited the Stargate, followed by Ba'al, and two more Jaffa, one carrying a Naquadah Bomb over his shoulder.  
  
 **"Secure the Ship,"** Ba'al ordered. **"Make ready the Chappa'ai."** He smirked, and added, **"Take your time. Because... we have all the time in the world."**  
  


* * *

  
  
 **"B...Begin the Extraction Process,"** Egeria commanded- and a metal bar was lowered to connect to the table- a large lighted chamber with a long, thin needle on its front, poised and ready to drive itself into Ba'al's head.  
  
"Seriously, did anyone see where Vala went?" Jonas glances around.  
  
"Maybe extractions bring up bad memories?" Daniel asked.  
  
"She cannot have gone far," Teal'c began. "There are-"  
  
 _ **TWING. SNAP.**_  
  
And suddenly, Teal'c and Daniel both vanished with poofs of black smoke.  
  
Everyone on SG-1 reacts by raising their weapons.  
  
"Carter?" Jack asks.  
  
"I don't know sir, he wasn't beamed out!" She starts.   
  
**"He was there one second and gone the next,"** Jolinar interjects from Sam's mouth. **"Just like Vala and- Oh, fuck. Where's Skaara?"**  
  
"I think we should Run," Cassandra whispers. "Now."  
  
 _ **TWING, SNAP. TWANG!**_ Tok'ra and Jaffa began disappearing, and Ba'al laughed even as the extractor slowly moved towards his head.  
  
 ** _SNAP._**  
  
Then, Ba'al vanished from the table.  
  
 **"Everyone! Remain ca-" _SPANG!_** And then Egeria, and her host, Joey Harley, both vanished into thin air. Simultaneously, Sam jerked in place- gasping for breath- and then before anyone could react- _**SNAP!**_ \- she vanished, just as Jolinar must have moments before.  
  
Jack's eyes met Mitchel's, and he ordered- "Get to the Gate!"  
  
Then, with another _**TWING**_ of broken thread, he vanished as well.  
  
Mitchel, Mordred, Jonas, Cassandra, and Jude ran for the Stargate without hesitation.  
  


* * *

  
**ACHILLES, 1939.**

The Captain and two armed crewmen enter the cargo hold.  
  
A Jaffa opens fire on them.  
  
One is hit- the Captain grabs the other man and drags him away.  
  
Two more staff blasts hit the other crewman in the back and the Captain in the leg.  
  


* * *

  
  
More and more tears tore themselves into Lord English's Cairo Overcoat, as the fabric of space time was ripped asunder from a multitude of severed time loops.  
  
This was not the end. Not by a long shot.  
  


* * *

  
  
 **???'?? PYRAMID, 2003.**  
  
Mitchel cries out in pain- staggering forwards, grasping at his leg.  
  
Jude and Cassandra grab him, and heft him to his feet.  
  
Jude, however, feels himself fading fast.  
  
He slides a single captchalogue card into Mitchel's deck--  
  
 _ **TWANG!**_  
  
\--And then is gone.  
  
Mordred picks up the missing slack even as Cassandra cries out in shock.  
  


* * *

  
  
 **ACHILLES, 1939.**  
  
The Helmsman is shot dead.  
  
The crewman sending an SOS is shot from behind, and the Morse Code machine is destroyed shortly there after.  
  
The captain groans as he leans against a bulkhead, trying to make his way to his feet while still staying hidden.  
  
A Jaffa approaches Ba'al, and reports, "The vessel is secure, my Lord."  
  
 **"Good,"** Ba'al orders, smirking. **"Dial the Chappa'ai, and prepare the Bomb."**  
  
The Jaffa takes out a portable DHD device, and places it onto the most easily exposed section of the Stargate.  
  
Its glowing orb in the center lights up, and the Startgate begins to spin within its case.  
  


* * *

  
  
 **???'?? ??????? 2003.**  
  
Within that Captchalogue card- a certain round device's glowing orange orb began to power on in kind, a circumstantially simultaneous activation.  
  
SG-1 escaped the Pyramid, unaware of a faint golden orange glow that suffused the four remaining survivors as they ran for the Stargate.  
  
Cassandra glances back at the Tok'ra settlement, and watches as building after building vanishes with bursts of smoke and the sound of snapping strings- growing louder, and louder- akin to the sound of a piano wire being severed.  
  
Time...  
  
 _Time was running out._  
  


* * *

  
  
 **ACHILLES, 1939.**  
  
The Stargate shuts down, and the Captain stares at the empty cargo hold.  
  
No, empty save for one interloper.  
  
A Large round device with blinking lights and beeping sounds.  
  
The Captain knows what it is without knowing what it is.  
  
A Bomb.  
  
He hobbles over to the orb, lifts it up in hand, climbs up to the hole carved into the hull of the boat by the Stargate, and he rolls the object into the water.  
  
Thus exhausted, the man tries to collapse onto the remains of his ship... But... His strength fails him.  
  
He tumbles over the edge into the frigid water of the Antarctic ocean, and he watches with a sort of serene tranquility as his boat sails him by, and that orb he'd discarded of detonates safely away from it.  
  
Were he able to see the massive explosion of water on the surface after, he might have found it poetic.  
  


* * *

  
 **???'?? ??????? 2??3**  
  
Much to SG-1's surprise, the Stargate was already dialing as they arrived, and activated without much preamble.  
  
Only the lit up glyphs on the DHD told them that it was Earth's address.  
  
 **WAAA WAAA! KAWOOOOSH!**  
  
None of them questioned why the Gate was active, and they ran for the wormhole.  
  
And deep within that "Super Nova in a Pocket" that had been reverse pick pocketed into Mitchel's Sylladex... a Star in miniature produced a Solar Flare.  
  
SG-1 hurled themselves through the wormhole, even as the pyramid vanished from behind them.  
  


* * *

 **CITY OF ATLANTIS, ????**  
  
On the suddenly empty and almost abandoned City of Atlantis, Artoria Regahro Gray smiled sadly up at the two moons of New Lantea.  
  
"Well..." she spoke to nobody in particular. "Here's to the future."  
  
And then the City of Atlantis vanished from where it had been moved- taken back to its slumbering place far, far, deep beneath the ocean of Lantea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PAUSE FOR DIRECTORS NOTES:  
> Well. There he goes. Ba'al has WRECKED THE TIMELINE!
> 
> It's amazing how one small death that went unaccounted for can cause so much havoc on the timeline ALONE, before anything else happens. Just the act of opening the Stargate caused a man to die, and HOO. DID THAT HAVE REPERCUSSIONS! 
> 
> So, yeah, in an alternate timeline Jake Harley and Catherine Langford hooked up out of spite of her father in memory of Earnest Littlefield who is DEFINITELY dead in this timeline. No rescue for him, sadly, not this time around. Fun fact about this scene, it was originally going to be an Intermission placed after this chapter before the next ACT, hence the switch to Second Person, but it just didn't feel right where it was in that sequence. It still doesn't *quite* feel right where it is now for a whole different reason. It's a sudden slow to the rapid fire pacing of the scene, and yet... its presence signifies how all of this is spiraling out of control all the faster.
> 
> Jake getting with Catherine derails him getting with Anna Claire, which derails... well. Joey and Jude entirely. They went poof, and ontological inertia continues through, derailing *Egeria*'s Survival as well as pretty much *EVERYTHING* in Alternia. 
> 
> And it's all because Ba'al failed to account for a single man's death- because he had no idea that man had even died ON the boat. It's simply a variable nobody can account for because they can't figure out how A leads to C, missing B entirely. 
> 
> Meanwhile, the rest of this sequence plays out almost similarly as it does in Continuum proper... Save for the fact that Jack O'neill simply goes POOF rather than gets killed by Ba'al breaking free and stabbing him in the heart with the extraction needle. Plus, the timely introduction of the NOVA IN A POCKET that Jude slips to Mitchel along with the letters moments before he goes poof. 
> 
> Next Chapter: A6A5: INTERMISSION: Redheart.


	4. A6A5: INTERMISSION: Redheart.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: Some heavily implied offscreen Sexual Deviancy on Ba'al's part. He's really quite the creep in this chapter, all things considered. Plus, you know, the whole "Consent" issue when it comes to Goa'uld and full take overs of their hosts.
> 
> ...I should probably add a dubious consent tag, now that I've finally remembered the right term.

**AVALON CAVERN. 1976.**  
  
A ring transport activated, and Ba'al found himself within a deep, dark, cavern.  
  
"Heh," he chuckled. "This should be a piece of cake."  
  
He consulted his notes, and made his way through the facility based on the after action report that he'd carried with him from the future- far flung and disconnected as it was, now.  
  
He had no idea why destroying the Stargate would result in the Harley patriarch vanishing from the history books, but it was just one of those things. He would have to arrange for a NEW heiress to go to Alternia to complete those particular stable time loops and ensure his timeline came out on top.  
  
And he knew the perfect queen to make it happen, frozen on ice as she was.  
  
Ba'al solved the two puzzles with ease, and summoned the Black Knight and dispatched it with only a slight bit more effort.  
  
When the treasure manifested, Ba'al approached the woman frozen in the stasis pod with something akin to respect.  
  
"Hello, Artoria Pendragon..." Ba'al smirked. "It's time for you to put down the crown of a King, and become my Queen."  
  


* * *

  
You are now NIRRTI, and your host is OLD. So damn old, you're nearing the point of organ failure. If Ba'al doesn't come through with your NEW HOST sooner than later... You might have to resort to cloning a new one.  
  
 **"Damn it,"** you swear as you watch the frozen stasis pod be brought into your lab on the cloaked Al'kesh in orbit over this unknown planet. **"What do you want now, you slave driver?"** You glare at Ba'al as he towers over everything.   
  
**"Well, Nirrti,"** Ba'al smiled. **"I need you to save the woman in this stasis pod, and prepare her for the New Life Ceremony. She is to become Qetesh's new host."**  
  
You scoff. **"I aint doin' nothin', fool. Not with this body. It's too old. I can barely hold a pen, let alone manipulate my surgical tools."**  
  
 **"We are en-route to your new host as we speak, as a matter of fact,"** Ba'al says, smiling.  
  
 **"Promises promises,"** you glare at him **. "I just pray you do me as solid of a request as I asked and bring me someone younger than this old woman you shoved me in last time."**  
  
 _ **"Oh, trust me,**_ " Ba'al smirks. **"She will be so young, you'll accuse me of _cradle robbing."_**  
  
An hour of hyperspace travel later, and you find that to be the damned case.  
  
A dark haired girl has been brought before you- not even into her teenaged years yet, and likely even younger.  
  
 **"Is this some kind of joke?"** You ask, glaring at Ba'al. **"You expect me to take the body of a pre-teen?"**  
  
 **"And with it, a change of identity,"** Ba'al says. **"After all, 'Nirrti' as a household name is so.... _poisonous_ these days. Even with my protection. Khepri wants your head on a Pike! I have a few suggestions if you want them."**  
  
 **"I had a good thing going under her until you kidnapped me, you bastard,"** you say. **"Give me one good reason why I should take this girl as a host?"**  
  
 ** _"Because,"_** Ba'al knelled down, and put his slimy hands on the girl's chin- she visibly recoiled in fear, but couldn't go anywhere. **"If you don't do as I ask, and take this girl as your host? I will have _Qetesh_ take little Vala here as her new host instead of our _royal queen in the ice box over in your lab._ "**  
  
...  
  
 **What.**  
  
 _ **The Fuck!!?**_

Just what the fuck are you implying there, Ba'al!? Nothing good. That's for sure. Damn it, you have standards, but this is seriously veering into territory well beyond those by the second.

You curse the name Ba'al for all it's worth.

  
 _"Fine!"_ you yell- and if pressed, you'd say it was some small measure of your host's own morality bleeding through, instead of 100% pure YOU. **"You have yourself a deal, Ba'al. I'll take the girl as my host. But I'll choose my own name, thank you very much."**  
  


* * *

  
  
You take the girl into your private quarters, and walk her through the process...  
  
 **"I am so sorry for this, Child,"** you tell her. **"For your own sanity, I... I may have to put you into a deep, deep slumber."**  
  
"It's okay..." the girl- Vala Mal Doran- sniffed. "He killed my parents. It's not like I have anywhere to go to next anyways."  
  
If your current body weren't so old and feeble... Damn it all. Ba'al's played this too well. First he traps you in a body too old to fight. Then he offers you a host too young to be able to do anything meaningful against him.  
  
You know one thing is for certain. You are _**NOT**_ taking her the old fashioned way.  
  
 **"Hold your hands up to your mouth,"** you tell her, and then... when she does so, you kneel down, and eject yourself from your currently dying host, into the girl's hands.  
  
For a moment, the cold air brushes against your true form, as you look up to the girl whose hands you now trust to your fate.  
  
She lifts you up to her mouth, and opens wide, as you asked.  
  
You enter her mouth, and cut into the back of her skull with terrifying ease.  
  
And you...  
  
You....  
  
....  
  
You can't bring it to yourself to squash her mind flat. The girl within your skull doesn't deserve that.  
  
Damn it all, are you seriously considering going Tok'ra on this?  
  
...Yes, yes you are.

 _[Hello, Vala.]_ You greet. _[My name.... my name was Nirrti. But you may call me Ka'turnal, if you wish.]_  
  
 _'...Hello, miss Ka'turnal.'_ Vala replies. _'Are you... going to put me to sleep now?'_  
  
 _[Not yet... Not unless you want to.]_ You hesitate. _[I... if you want... instead... I could teach you something about genetics? You could become my apprentice, if you'd like.]_  
  
 _'I... I don't know anything about genetics, but...'_ Vala nods her physical head. _'If you'll have me. I... I'd like to be useful.'_  
  
 _[Very well,]_ You give her as much of a reassuring mental smile as you can. _[We'll have to play this smart. I'll have to do most of the talking at first, but... I think you and I may get along very nicely, dear girl.]_  
  
And certainly, you can keep a better leash on this one as an apprentice than creating your own first prime whole cloth out of exotic DNA.  
  
That whole idea seems... well, as much as you hate Ba'al, he had a point with how bad of an idea it was. You'll give him that much credit.  
  


* * *

  
  
In the end, there wasn't much you could do to 'save' the frozen woman from her grievous wounds save putting her into a Sarcophagus Device. Your arms simply did not have the reach to be able to perform the right life saving surgeries.  
  
As for 'preparing' her? Ba'al wished her mind pliant, and her body strong- strong with a power to obliterate entire cities off the face of a planet with but a single thrust of a spear. You put her through another Sarcophagus cycle or two to keep her placated while you figured out the right genetic manipulation therapies.  
  
Why Ba'al also insisted you destroy her sword, melt it down into raw metals, and combine it with raw, weapons grade Naquadah to be ground up and injected into the bloodstream, you'll never know.  
  
Still, eventually, the time came, and the dazed woman was removed from the Sarcophagus with a brief stunning from a Hand Device, and placed nude upon the bed of one of Ba'al's private chambers.   
  
Ba'al himself stood nearly just as naked, wearing only a robe and loose trousers, as he stood aside and watched, like a creep, as the Jaffa Princess who carried Qetesh within her belly did her work, and release the Symbiote free into the world to take its next host.  
  
You ensured Vala's eyes were turned entirely towards a data tablet monitoring the new host's life sign vitals. Vala was supposed to be asleep at the moment, but you'd rather the visuals not cross over into her dreams.  
  
You could look away all you want, but sadly, there was very little you could do about the sound of the event.  
  
The multiple trips through the Sarcophagus must have done something funny to her brain- and that was before the hand device had stunned her mind further to make her even more pliant against Qetesh's stronger willed brain. The woman groaned in pleasure rather than pain when the Symbiote finally went into the back of her neck.  
  
While it was a better sound than the expected screaming, it still wasn't something you'd wanted Vala exposed to either.  
  
...And look at you, Ka'turnal, acting like this girl's parent because you've both been forced into this damned situation. What a mess this whole thing has become.  
  
Still, the vitals were strong, and when Ba'al questioned her health, you reported that physically everything was fine.  
  
The fact that Qetesh began giggling as she sat up in bed, and began talking about how much the Host was ENJOYING her current situation made you pause to hesitate some.  
  
Goa'uld rarely put their new hosts through the Sarcophagus once before taking their bodies, let alone multiple times through. There had been some minor studies done on the effects the Sarcophagus had on the cognitive effects of the System Lords put through it- Yuu's doing, really- but the results had never been publicly posted or verified.   
  
Something was wrong with how the Sarcophagus acted with a human mind- that much you could be certain of.   
  
Seeing these results, you vowed to never put Vala through one of the damned devices unless your lives absolutely depended on its life saving powers.  
  
And so that you didn't see anything further of Ba'al and Qetesh's... enjoyment of her new host body beyond the suddenly started make out session... you left the room.  
  
Vala DEFINITELY did not need to see or hear either of those things.  
  


* * *

  
  
 **ABYDOS. EARTH DATE, MARCH 4TH, 1980**  
  
Khepri was dead, slain at Ba'al's new First Prime's hands in the first stage of open revolt against the old ways.  
  
Teal'c- snipped from Apophis' clutches not too long ago- stood over the cooling body of the Alternian impostor of a Goa'uld, and lifted her severed head into the air for the Abydonians to see and cheer.  
  
Your name is Vala Mal Doran, and somehow, despite the horrific scenario you just witnessed...   
  
You and your head-mate can't help but feel relief at Khepri's demise.  
  
 _[That woman was evil, even for a false Goa'uld System Lord.]_ Ka'turnal remarked quietly, almost mourning. _[And yet despite that, she still gave me as much sanctuary and cover as she could. I didn't feel like a prisoner, being extorted to do her master's bidding, under her, like we feel now. I'll miss her, even if she was a royal bitch in the ass.]_  
  
You are ten years old by your own internal reckoning, and you've already learned so much... and in turn, you've taught what you learned from your father before his untimely demise to your partner.  
  
 **"Lovely, isn't it?"** Qetesh inquired, stepping onto the balcony from which you watched Teal'c heft the severed head, and Ba'al now stabbing the head onto a pike. **"My Love can be so... _amazing._ "** Her hands reach towards her swelling belly, cupping it in a way that seems... kind of wrong even to you. Like it's less about the kid inside ready to enter the world, and more about the anticipation of the pain itself.

Qetesh's host had suffered some sort of pain-pleasure flip due to her time in the sarcophagus before being taken over, and some of that feedback fed back into Qetesh.  
  
She was dressed in something that barely counted as a swimsuit, if you were being honest. It was wholly inappropriate for casual wear in a desert like this! But, she's the Queen and you're just the host to the scientist servant. What do YOU know about anything? (Quite a lot, actually. Not that THEY know that.)  
  
 **"Oh, he is _something_ alright,"** Ka'turnal mused, peering down at the sight of the beheaded body now being lit on fire below by the encouraged Abydonians. **"Amazing is about the closest word I can think of to agree with."**  
  
 _[No. I can think of others,]_ she said, internally. _[Monstrous, is more like it. Please don't look at what they're doing to that body, Vala.]_  
  
 _'Oh, Please, Ka'turnal,'_ you say. _'I've seen worse done to my parents.'_  
  
 _[Another reason we have to do what we're doing then, I suppose.]_  
  
Qetesh rolled her head- her long, golden hair swaying in the hot, desert breeze- with a quaint moan. " **This Child of ours... she will be the cornerstone of everything to come with this new Empire we are building."**  
  
A Harcesis.   
  
The term fills Ka'turnal with dread. An impossible child. A horrific blending of Goa'uld knowledge twice over into a single human body. And that's not even counting the incredible genetic changes Ba'al requested be added. DNA strands from exotic samples you'd never believe came out of anything but a fiction novel.  
  
And yet... All of that is swirling around inside that woman's belly in the form of an Infant about to pop loose into the world.   
  
Ka'turnal was not so stupid as to let any of that Goa'uld knowledge actually pass onto the child. Many of the modifications to the growing child that Ba'al requested served as cloaking devices to scramble and erase as much of that genetic knowledge as was possible.  
  
Ba'al would be pissed when he found out, which made it all the more important that the both of you pull off what you're planning when the time comes.  
  
 _"Ah!"_ Qetesh's eyes flashed, and suddenly, her voice lost the reverberation. "Wh- What just happened? Where am I?"  
  
Her eyes drifted down to her stomach, eyes widening as you hear the dripping of liquid onto the floor.  
  
"N-No! This- This can't be right! This-!"  
  
The Time had come without warning while you were thinking about what to do when the Time finally came.  
  
 _[Damn it. it's go time. Vala, I trust you can do this?]_ your partner in crime asks.  
  
 _'You've got it,'_ you take the reigns, while she works on preparing your own internal modifications to fire off.  
  
"Miss!" You exclaim with as much child like shock as you can manage. "I think your water just broke!"  
  
You grab her hand, and begin dragging her away from there- not to the Maternity Ward Ba'al knows about, but the secret one you'd prepared when he wasn't looking.   
  
"We have to get you to the nursery now!"  
  
"What? What's going on??" Artoria Pendragon's head whipped around- terror in her eyes. "What happened? Is this hell? Heaven? What- What's going on!? I don't understand!?"  
  
"Ma'am!" you try, a bit more firmly. "I'll tell you everything you need to know, but please, you have to trust me!" You look the woman in her green eyes. "You have to come with me if you want your baby to live!"  
  


* * *

  
  
 _[Goa'uld Symbiotes- especially non Queens- are ill prepared to have control over a Human Pregnancy,]_ Ka'turnal had told you, once upon a time at the start of this insane plan. _[In order for Qetesh to give birth, she will have to give control over to the Host entirely- and I mean EVERYTHING. Eyesight, Hearing, Touch, Smell- everything gets tied into the pain of childbirth in some way, and a Symbiote cannot handle it. Qetesh will be blind and it will let us perform exactly what we need to perform when the time comes.]_  
  
It's a lengthy procedure, and GODS. Do you never plan on EVER having such a child in your ENTIRE LIFE the manual way- doesn't matter if you're ever on your own or still have Ka'turnal in your head. Just. EW. No. GROSS.  
  
You are Vala and you are all of TEN YEARS OLD and the idea of pushing a kid out of your lower body just grosses you out to no end. You shouldn't have to deal with any of this, but... damn it, there's no other choice to be had except to play midwife right now. Stupid Ba'al.  
  
Still, that's why Ka'turnal deals with most of the medical work while you run the motor mouth of the kid you never got a chance to really be.   
  
It's... refreshing to be the one to talk and keep the woman who's host to Qetesh distracted.  
  
You feel like you're actually doing something with your life for once out of your own actual power and volition.  
  
And then the baby is out- a girl with green eyes and wisps of blonde hair- and Ka'turnal doses the host with pain relieving drugs- as well as an incredibly powerful sedative- before the woman can pass out on her own and the Goa'uld within can take over.  
  
 _[That's the hard part done,]_ Ka'turnal says as you place the baby in a nursery basket. Then, she activates the transponders, and the little genetic monstrosities you prepared ahead of time awaken inside of the walls of the *real* nursery that Ba'al had wanted you to perform the delivery in.  
  
Included amongst the many nasty beasties is a physical clone of your own body, but with none of the memories and a fake symbiote with a pre-programmed set of dialogue and actions inside.  
  
Chaos ensues as the black skinned- green mouthed monsters with electric flares of incredible power break loose of their containment pods into the Ha'tak proper, breaking free and storming the place- their wriggling, green tongues spewing out flickering flames as they declared themselves servants of Hathor.  
  
And then the internal changes take hold, and your hair turns as bright candy red as a doll you once had, and the woman you're apparently impersonating actually had.  
  
A few smiles for the security cameras with your changed hair, plus some dying words from your doppelganger as she sealed herself in the backup lab about a rogue Goa'uld named HATHOR causing trouble and kidnapping the heir of Ba'al's new empire... And the stage is set.  
  
It doesn't take long for you to wheel the baby's basket to a Ring Transporter and ring out of the Ha'tak to a cargo ship that was ready and waiting.  
  
Ba'al really won't be happy to find out about this deception once he pieces it together that this is what happened, but at least you sewn in enough chaos to prevent him from doing anything immediately.  
  
Ka'turnal drives your cargo ship into Hyperspace, and takes you to the one planet you KNOW Ba'al will never think to check...  
  
That tiny, backwater world, uncontrolled by any Goa'uld, where he picked up Qetesh's host to begin with.   
  
After all, why would you OR Ka'turnal be dumb enough to go back to a place he knows you know about? You wouldn't be, really!  
  
And, infact, after a little rigging to the Cargoship's controls once you arrive on the planet, along with meddling with its navigation computer to make it think you'd stopped on a completely DIFFERENT planet- one with a known Stargate- if Ba'al ever catches up with that Cargo Ship before it crashes into a star, he'll be lead on a wild goose chase!  
  
Which is a thing you're told is a thing, here on Earth.  
  
...You're a ten year old with a thousands of years old snake inside your head, accompanying a newborn Supposed-to-Be-a-Harcesis on an unfamiliar planet.  
  
...Why does this feel like you didn't think things out so well?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PAUSE FOR DIRECTORS COMMENTARY:  
> This chapter, ironically, may have been better saved for later in the story for a proper reveal, but I felt it better to put this moment forth here in where it chronologically falls into place. Heh. Chronological propriety in a time travel story is a funny concept.
> 
> Astute viewers may start to be piecing together some of Ba'al's ingenious planning here, as well as realize how badly he fucked up by not accounting for the possibility that somebody got *Kawooshed* out of existence. If he KNEW? Ba'al would have definitely done things somewhat differently to ensure that one specific man didn't die to ensure that Jake Harley still met Anna Claire and had Joey and Jude. He *WANTED* The Alternia side of things to play out as it did, after all.
> 
> Ba'al's whole plan, as it starts to come into focus, is built around the idea of making this a NEW Timeline Iteration, and reinforcing the parts of the timeline he WANTS to Keep intact, while corrupting or manipulating events he doesn't want happening- such as the SGC gaining a foothold in the Galaxy and spreading influence from there.
> 
> Unfortunately, Ba'al's planning failed to properly account for the Butterfly Effect. As much as he wants to pull a Jayni and use future knowledge to rule all of time... there are some things he's failing to account for. Such as Nirrti getting *ALL* the right buttons pushed to go full Tok'ra agent mode, for what's actually the FIRST time. Bare in mind the only thing holding her back in the MAIN timeline was the fact that her host was a fucking GENOCIDAL SCIENTIST even worse than some Goa'uld! 
> 
> Putting her in charge of ensuring that his and Qetesh's kid *through Artoria* would be a Harcesis was so bone headed of a move. It's like Ba'al was ASKING for Nirrti to betray him! And that's BEFORE you include Vala as an influence! Putting Nirrti into *KID!VALA*?? Especially after pulling whatever shit he pulled to get Nirrti OUT of Khepri's clutches?? HoOoOo. BA'AL. Ba'al. Just what are you thinking here??
> 
> The simple answer is that like Aranea in Canon Homestuck GAME OVER, he assumed FAR too much of his ability to predict and control outcomes.
> 
> So. NIRRTI IS BACK! Ka'turnal is back. Such is the thing when time travel is involved. People who were dead suddenly AREN'T. And ain't this a quaint pairing? Nirrti and Vala. They never meet in canon Stargate, let alone Stargate Alternia... Until NOW. Nirrti got a brief mention in dialogue in canon Stargate Continuum, but here? Oh. Here she's getting a starring role, as it were. 
> 
> Next Chapter: A6A5: ACT 3: Cold Shoulder, Warm Heart.


	5. A6A5: ACT 3: Cold Shoulder, Warm Heart.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile, back in the.... Present??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: there's some Doomed Timeline Awareness induced Depression this chapter.

The wormhole shot out through space and time- its green hue fading to blue before shifting starkly into purple with flashes of red highlights everywhere.  
  
The wormhole dodged around a star- and then another- and another and another- cycling past FLARE after FLARE after FLARE AFTER FLARE before finally shooting back towards Earth's far frozen northern reaches as the wormhole shifted to blue again and terminated in the frozen, frigid top of a glacier.  
  
You are now Cameron Mitchel, and you huff, and puff as you stumble out of the gate. Behind you are Cassandra and Mordred- Jonas stands further inside the- the-  
  
"Are we in a fucking Boat?!" you ask, gazing at the frost and ice covered interior of what's almost certainly the inside of a shipping boat's frozen cargo hold.  
  
The temperature is dropping rapidly, even as the Gate Stays on for far longer than it should, buying you extra time and warmth before frostbite sets in.  
  
"The address was Earth's," Jonas swore. "I swear it was Earth's coordinates."  
  
You decaptchalogue and pull on your WINTER CAP. "Yeah, I know it was Earth. I recognized the address too," you shudder. "Damn it. What the hell happened back there? Why'd we end up here and not Stargate Command?"  
  
"Was it just me?" Mordred exclaims- loudly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Or did that wor-wormhole go on for WAY longer than it should have?"  
  
"Sh-so-solar Flares," Cassandra chatters out. "I counted at least ffff-four we warped by."  
  
The gate shuts down, drenching you into darkness.   
  
You decaptchalogue a flashlight and click it on. "So... Time travel??"  
  
"Pr-Probably," Cassandra nods. "I don't know what ha-happens when a wormhole intersects multiple flares, though Jude--" She shudders, not just from the rapidly cooling darkness. "Usually we just get bounced back to the gate we dialed from, instead of..."  
  
She takes out her own flashlight and peers into the- the fucking BOX that the Stargate is in.   
  
"G-Good news. We are on Earth. This is the Giza G-Gate," She says.  
  
You gaze into the box, and sure enough, you catch sight of the Pyramid Glyph in the inner ring.  
  
"Bah-Bad news is I think I just figured out where we are," Cassandra says, moving over and pulling out a life vest from a box near the Gate. "The Achilles."  
  
"As in the Boat that buh-brought the Stargate from Africa to Am-America before Wuh-World War Two?" Jonas asks.  
  
"One in the s-same. So... Duh-Doomed timeline?" You ask.  
  
"Gi-Given all the people and buildings disappearing?" Cassandra nods, grimly. "Yeah. I'd say those flares probably displaced us temporally enough to prevent us from being wiped out by whatever was consuming our t-t-t-timeline wh-whole."  
  
"Resetting it," Mordred corrects. "That didn't feel like a consumption. That felt like... I don't even know, but it felt familiar. Like I'd lived it before."  
  
"You were ascended for a long time in the past," you say, glancing at him. "If this is bec-because of the 1939 Incident the other us- Or- I g-g-guess just US now- wound up in... You'd've lived through it before, yeah."  
  
"W-Well, we k-knew this was c-c-coming eventually, I guh-guess." Jonas says. "Just... d-didn't think it'd happen like This."  
  
"Atleast we know some of us should make it, r-right, Cam?" Cassandra asks, glancing at you.   
  
You and her, at the very least.  
  
"I wouldn't call 'living out the rest of our d-days stu-stuck in the past' as 'making it,' Cassie," you say, peering around the boat. Shit. "I can see my Bru-Breath. It's getting colder in hhh-here."  
  
God, your mouth feels like it's locking up.   
  
"The G-Ga-Gate probably warmed things up for a bit, but... the temperature's going to fall rapidly." Cassandra shudders, rifling through her sylladex. "Cmon... where's the warm winter coats I packed? D-Don't tell me J-Jude had them..."  
  
You check your own sylladex...  
  


"What the-?"  
  
And then you find a warm spot.  
  
You decaptchalogue several letters and a small round metal device that warms up the room immediately, along with casting a bright orange light into the surroundings.  
  
"Oh, shit," Cassandra stares at it. "How'd you get that?"  
  
"It was in my Sylladex," you say.   
  
"Jude must have slid it in there when you tumbled," Cassandra stares at it. "He and Ruby and Gray were working on that back on Atlantis under Lord El Melloi's instruction."  
  
  
"Well, whatever it is," Mordred stares at it. "It's bringing the temperature up pretty fast. Already got feeling back in my toes."  
  
"Which won't be a good thing," Jonas says, motioning his flashlight at the gash in the ice the Stargate carved earlier. "Ice is melting fast. We'll drown if there's sea water out there."  
  
"Search the crates for cold weather gear," you say, "I've got a plan."  
  
You take out your portable heat source and press it against the ice for a few moments. When you pull it away, there's a small cavity draining water into the boat. You recaptchalogue the heat source melting the ice in here, and the temperature starts to drop again rapidly.  
  
You tear loose a small pack of C-4, stuff it into the hole, and prime a detonator.  
  
"Found coats!" Jonas calls out.  
  
You all quickly start dressing up in the gear- captchalogging it and then decaptchalogging it directly over your own clothes.  
  
"Alright! Everyone take cover behind the gate!" you order, priming the remote detonator.  
  
"If we don't blow a hole in the ice with that C-4, the entire blast could flow back into the compartment," Jonas warns you. "Or- worse- you know, flood the chamber with sea water."  
  
"Not like we have a choice, Jonas!" you say. "Fire In the Hole!"  
  
You trigger the detonator, and _**BOOM-**_ the ice cracks and shatters outwards- tumbling away, and blowing a warm breeze backwards into the ship.  
  
You all turn to look around the Gate, and see stars in the sky.  
  
"Well, that worked out well," you start- and then there's a loud groan from the ship around you.  
  
"The Blast must've dislodged the boat from the ice," Cassandra says.  
  
"Well, we couldn't stay forever!" Mordred says, and the four of your hurry to the hole and push yourselves to climb out of it as quickly as you can.  
  
Soon enough- you're clear, and you watch as the boat breaks apart into chunks and begins sinking into the waters below.  
  
"Well! That was something!" Mordred yells over the roaring winds of what looks like...  
  
"Holy shit-" you stare upwards. "Is that an Aurora??"  
  
"Stars look familiar," Jonas says. "I think we're above the Arctic Circle."  
  
"So any-way we go will be south?" You ask.  
  
"Pretty much!" Jonas nods.   
  
"South it is, then!" you say, picking a direction, and your merry band of four hoof it across the ice.  
  


* * *

  
  
Hours later, and the sun rose, illuminating the ice and the arctic.  
  
"Cassie?" You are now Mordred, and you can't help but ask, "I can't help but notice you haven't been vibe-checking our decisions since we got here."  
  
"I'm not getting any vibes," she admits. "Haven't since we arrived here. Or before, actually. They vanished in the pyramid. It's like back when Damara was messing with me, except a thousand times... not worse? Not better either. Just... I don't have any options in front of me, good or bad. And I don't know if it's because I know the future I want is impossible, or..."  
  
"Or because we don't have enough information to make a choice," you suggest.  
  
"Exactly," Cassie nods. "The... the really shitty thing is, we're flying blind here. It's pretty clear Ba'al rewrote time, somehow."  
  
"As if the Gate being frozen up north wasn't obvious of that," Mitchel mutters from just ahead of you.   
  
"It doesn't make sense why Ba'al wouldn't just sink the Gate into the ocean," Jonas grumbles. "Or blow it up, for that matter."  
  
"Maybe he missed a crewman and they threw a bomb off into the ocean?" Mitchel offers.  
  
"It's probable," Cassie nods. "But... the real question is what does doing That do to our timeline?"  
  
"You mean, like, butterflies and shit?" you ask.  
  
"Exactly," Cassie nods. "Look, we all know our timeline is comprised of a high number of tight and finicky time loops. In fact, it's almost like they're the threads holding our reality together. Hiding, destroying, or sinking the Stargate just serves as a single means of snipping a whole bunch of those threads at once."  
  
"Just preventing Jake Harley from even being involved with the Gate Program at the right places at the right times could keep him from meeting his wife," Jonas guesses. "Which would mean Joey and Jude wouldn't have been born."  
  
"Without Joey going to Alternia, Khepri would be grandfather paradoxed into two places at once," Cassie continues from there. "Joey wouldn't have gone to another reality, found her dead self's disembodied soul, and made a clone for it. Egeria wouldn't have had a new body to transfer into, and... Oh my god, all the Tok'ra butterflies alone from that... Without the Gate Daniel wouldn't have gone to Abydos. Sha're wouldn't have had Jade-! I wouldn't have met Jude and Penny--!"  
  
"Let's not think about all the unborn kids just yet," you interject before she can spiral. "If we play our cards right, we prevent this from happening to begin with. Right? That's what this whole loop is? Isn't it?"  
  
There's silence for a moment.  
  
"RIGHT???" You ask, pressing for more.  
  
"Even if we all survive this, there's no going back to the future we left behind," Cassie says, quietly. You can barely hear her over the wind, almost. "There'll be us-es that didn't go through what we just did. Reality will continue on without us even being aware we just passed a time split. We'll have to live our new lives in the past, making sure that everything that existed in the future exists for the lives we already lived."  
  
"But we still put things Right, right??" You press. "That's what we're going to do, right? We're going to Fix This and undo everything Ba'al did!"  
  
Cassie says nothing. Jonas looks uncomfortable. Mitchel just smirks. "Hell yeah, we undo this." He goes for his radio, and tries again for radio. "Mayday! Mayday! This is Colonel Cameron Mitchel. Mayday. Mayday..."  
  


* * *

  
  
You are Jonas Quinn, and as SG-1 comes to a group of ice structures, Cassandra stumbles to a stop.  
  
"Cassie, c'mon, we have to keep moving," Mitchel says.  
  
"Why?" She asks. "Jude's dead or was never born at this point. He didn't make it with us. I can't SENSE any damned future, and we're probably going to FREEZE to death before we ever get rescued! Here's as good of a spot as any to frost over and die."  
  
"I don't like this spot," Mitchel says, moving to put a hand on her shoulder. "We gotta keep moving."  
  
"Cam!" She shrugs his grip off. "No! What's the point!? There's nothing! I have NOTHING left. Just leave me at this point! Okay!? It's-"  
  
"Hey-" Mordred interjects. "What's that?" he points into the distance, and you turn to look.  
  
There are two figures dressed in white outerwear carrying rifles walking towards you.  
  
"HEY!" You yell, waving. "OVER HERE!"  
  
They begin jogging over.  
  
"Hey!" one of the greets, getting into talking range. His voice sounds familiar. "Which one of you is Mitchel?"  
  
"That'd be me!" Mitchel waves.  
  
"Jack O'neill," The man in question lowers his face mask, revealing a friendly face. A familiar face! "Special Forces."  
  
Holy shit.  
  
"Jack O'neill!" You laugh. "Man, are you a sight for sore eyes!"  
  
"Oh my god," Cassie cries out. "I'm not hallucinating am I?"  
  
"Nope, I feel pretty real myself," Jack O'neill glances between the four of you. "Bloody hell, is that Polly Langford with you?" He's staring at Mordred.  
  
Langford??  
  
"Wha?" Mordred points at himself. "Me?"  
  
"Yes, you!" O'neill nods.  
  
"Nope! My name's Mordred," Mordred answers. "Mordred Pendragon!"  
  
"Well," O'neill pauses. "That's just freaky!" He turns to the other figure. "Major Carter, Did you-?"  
  
"Yes, Sir!" And then the other mask comes down, and you see one Samantha Carter standing there. "I dropped the Buoy and marked the X. It should be along any minute now."  
  
Cassie nearly faints- and Mordred supports her weight. Cassie's continued muttering of "Oh my God they're both alive" earns some staggeringly confused looks between this timeline's Jack and Sam.  
  
"Is she alright?" Carter asks.  
  
"Not really, no," Mitchel shakes his head. "We lost her husband a few hours ago. She's not been taking it well."  
  
"Lost as in lost on the ice or lost as in-?" O'neill trails off- observing Cassie's reaction, then grimaces. "Right. Yeah. Alright. Well, Mitchel, I don't know what the hell you four are doing out in the Arctic with these people, but we're going to need some answers."  
  
"Yeah," Mitchel says. "Right back at you."  
  
After a few moments of waiting, Carter checks her watch, and gazes out onto the ice. "Ah! There it is!"  
  
The ice cracks, and then the upper deck of a Nuclear Submarine rises from the water.  
  
You head over to the upper deck, where a third Special Forces suited man stands. "Colonel O'neill!"  
  
"Permission to come aboard?" O'neill asks- Colonel? Damn, the timeline's changed majorly if Carter's still a Major and O'neill's a Colonel. Or maybe it's the wrong year still? Shit, who even knows.  
  
"Permission Granted, Sir!" The crewman says. "The C.O. would like you to make it snappy, though. There's a Russian Sub nosing around."  
  
"It's Always the Russians, isn't it?" Mitchel mutters.  
  
You can't help but laugh.  
  
Within a few minutes, you're inside the submarine ALEXANDRIA, and you're meeting the ship's commander.  
  
"Colonel, welcome aboard the Alexandria," the commander greets.  
  
"Captain, thanks for the ride," O'neill says.  
  
"We're always happy to help the Air Force," the commander says. He gives directions to the Chief Of the Boat to escort you to the Ward room, but not without another glance at Mordred and asking- "Colonel, isn't that-?"  
  
"Apparently Unrelated, but could be her Twin sister for all we know," O'neill answers. "We need to debrief."  
  
It doesn't take long for you to get taken to the Ward Room, and much to your surprise, there's another familiar face waiting for you.  
  
"Mitchel and Co," Carter begins, "This is Doctor-"  
  
"Daniel Jackson," you stare at the man, who has remarkably long hair for this stage of his life.   
  
"Have we met?" The Glasses wearing man asks, adjusting said spectacles.  
  
"It's a Really Long Story," you answer in turn.  
  
"Alright," O'neill begins. "Let's get started on that then. But first and foremost, I've got a question for you all."  
  
He fishes out a memory stick from his jacket pocket and sticks it into a nearby laptop- booting up an image gallery and showing...  
  
 _"Oh hello,"_ Mitchel exclaims. "That's not normal."  
  
What you see is a satellite image of a brilliant purple wormhole entering from off screen- and crashing into the ice covered outline of a boat.   
  
"Like hell it's not," Mordred says. "Those things aren't usually visible to the naked eye, are they?"  
  
"No, they're not," you say.   
  
"This was taken about ten hours ago," Carter says. "The phenomenon lasted for about six hours before vanishing, and we had this happen."  
  
The next slide shows up- a flash of blue Stargate Kawoosh pushing out of the side of the boat. You can see the various flickers of light in the watery texture- the resolution is that good.  
  
"My team and I were already on our way up here to supervise a training exercise when we got orders to determine what the hell this was." O'neill explains. "When we got there, though, there was a hole in the ice about the size of an old cargo freighter, and nothing else left behind but a bunch of tracks leading off into the distance. You guys, I figure?"  
  
"Yeah," Mitchel nods- pausing only as Cassandra takes the laptop and pages back to the first slide, staring at it with wide, astonished eyes. "Uh... Jonas, do you wanna cover this or should I?"  
  
"I might as well," you say.   
  
"Alright," he nods. "Take it away then."  
  
"Right, well..." you cough. "We're not entirely sure what the hell happened to cause the purple tunnel thing, or why the hell it lasted for six hours... but the blue flash of light is the unstable vortex of a mass transportation device known as a Stargate--"  
  
"Oh my god," Doctor Jackson exclaims- "You're saying you found the Achilles and its Stargate?"  
  
"More like, stumbled blindly into it," Mitchel says. "But yeah, we did."  
  
"Daniel's insane theories on lost historical relics aside," O'neill interjects. "'Stargate'? What is that?"  
  
"It's what I called an Object that the Langford Expedition mistranslated as a Stairway or Doorway to Heaven," Doctor Jackson explains, Mitchel gives him a thumbs up, but O'neill's gaze is fixed on you, and he's ignoring Daniel for the moment. Man, ain't that a familiar sight?  
  
"It's..." you work for the words. "Okay, so basically, hundreds of thousands of years ago, there was a race of aliens we called the Ancients who built a network of giant, ring shaped devices they called Astria Porta- or Stargates. They're like phones in that you have one, and dial another, and the flash of blue energy out the front is the unstable vortex that happens in the process of forming a stable wormhole between two fixed points in space time."  
  
Doctor Jackson mutters a "I knew it." Major Carter does a double take.  
  
"Wait-" Carter starts. "Are you saying that the purple tunnel the satellites recorded was a **_Visible Wormhole??"_**  
  
"Normally you don't see them," Mordred says. "Not even from the insides, usually."  
  
"Not unless something goes horribly wrong," Mitchel says. "Which, uh... brings us to the main problem of why we were out in the Arctic like that."  
  
"Which is?" O'neill asks.  
  
"You see we were attending the..." Mitchel winces. "Okay, this is going to sound like the plot of a bad Sci-Fi movie, but we were attending the execution of an intergalactic bad guy who had a penchant for cloning himself. We thought we had the last one, but before we killed him, he warned us that he wasn't the last one. That's when people started disappearing from all around us, and Jude- Cassie's husband- ended up vanishing on us. We ran for the Stargate, and escaped through it."  
  
"We were supposed to come back to where our Stargate was," Mordred takes it from there. "But the trip took way too long from our perspective. Normally it's instant and you don't see the wormhole itself from the inside, but... We could tell something was off because... Well. We crossed paths with at least four different suns and various solar flares and were able to _observe that._ "  
  
"Which is one of the things that lets you know something went wrong," Mitchel says. "When you see solar flares in a wormhole. One alone is bad news, but... four? This is new, even for us."  
  
"Carter?" O'neill glances at the woman.  
  
"I can think of any number of possible scenarios in which a solar flare's magnetic fields could interfere with stable wormholes," she answers. "I'm more concerned over the fact that they said people were disappearing."  
  
"We think that Ba'al- uh, the bad guy we were supposed to be executing- found a way to travel through time," Mitchel says. "That ship we were on, the Achilles? It made it to its destination in our world. That was Our Stargate, but it was in the wrong place, and... uh... possibly Time. Do you mind if I ask what year it is?"  
  
"It's 2001," Doctor Jackson answers.  
  
"That's..." you wince. "Not too bad, actually. Four flares and we only lost two years?"  
  
"It could have been worse," Mitchel agrees. "We 'left' in 2003. So... Things aren't... too bad in that respect."  
  
"It's the rest of the Timeline we have to worry about," Mordred says.   
  
"So I'm guessing from the look of astonishment you all gave to us when we met that you know us?" O'neill asks.  
  
"Well for starters you're a General and not a Colonel in our timeline," you say. "And Major Carter there is-"  
  
"A Lieutenant Colonel," Mitchel says, giving you a firm look, before stating, "All of you were at the ceremony, and we saw all of you vanish, one by one. We weren't sure what happened to you guys until you came to our rescue."  
  
"What about me?" Doctor Jackson asks. "What's my status in this other timeline?"  
  
"Congrats," Mordred grins, "you're a father to two amazing girls."  
  
"...Huh," the Doctor blinks. "That's different. But I meant, am I someone who had my theories proven, or am I just as disgraced of an archeologist as I am here?"  
  
"History proved your theories about the Pyramids were right," you tell him.  
  
"...My what about the Pyramids?" he asks in turn, genuinely shocked, as well as dangerously curious.  
  
"...Your theories that the Pyramids are landing pads for alien spaceships?" you offer.  
  
"OH. That." He nods- a sort of astonished look on his face. Then, he turns to O'neill and says- "Well. I believe them. I've never published any of those theories, ever. My publisher thought I was already in enough hot water over my conspiracies regarding the missing Langford artifacts."  
  
 ** _"Seriously,_** Daniel?"O'neill asks. "One line about Pyramids will convince you these weirdos are telling the truth about all of this?"  
  
"I don't think you understand how _**UNPUBLISHED** _those theories are, Jack," Doctor Jackson insists. "I haven't ever mentioned them once in all the last ten years we've worked together to anyone. I ended up losing every piece of evidence for it in that house fire that we met in!"  
  
"Alright, alright," O'neill waves it off. He looks considerate for a moment. Then. "Talk amongst yourselves for a moment. Carter, I need to speak with you outside."  
  
With a "Yes, Sir," they head outside the ready room, closing the door behind them.  
  
"So, uh..." you look to Doctor Jackson. "What brings you up here?"  
  
"Well, I heard Jack and Sam were going to oversee a training exercise up here, and I thought, 'Hey, this is near where I think the Achilles landed, maybe I can swing a look when everyone's done?' Well. I guess that's out of the question now. Since it sunk."  
  
"Sorry 'bout that," Mordred apologizes. "We, kinda had to..." He stops. "Wait a second." He kneels down and checks the computer Cassandra's looking at. "'Scuse me, Cassie?"  
  
She nods, silently, and lets Mordred change slides.  
  
"Okay. Question," Mordred frowns. "The vortex was piercing THROUGH the ice in this shot originally, right?"  
  
You and Mitchel check it closely... 

It's changed. There's no visible vortex, instead, there's a lot more ice, and there's a flash of light on the ground, like a flashlight beam passing through ice, except a thousand times larger- the light from the Stargate activating is shining through the ice here, now... What the hell?  
  
"Okay, that's weird," you say. "Because I remember that too."  
  
Doctor Jackson peers over your shoulder and remarks- "What the hell? That's different from what I saw before, and I definitely remember it looking different on a bigger screen."  
  
"Yeah," Mitchel agrees. "I could see the ripples in the vortex and everything but now it's just... Like the light from the wormhole's being cast through the ice?"  
  
And then, as you were all staring at the screen, you all heard an audible snapping of something metallic, almost twine like, and the screen flickered with static briefly- before the image reverted exactly to how it'd been originally.  
  
It... it was like reality itself couldn't decide what had actually happened.  
  
"Oh fuck," Mordred exhaled, probably coming to the same conclusion. "I don't think this timeline is stable, at all."  
  
"So what does that mean?" you ask. "I mean... for all of us?"  
  
"I don't know," Cassie whispers, sounding so very much like a scared child. "I don't know and I'm scared."  
  


* * *

  
  
Daniel exits the Ward room, to the sight of Jack and Sam hiss-arguing over what to do about the situation.  
  
"We can't just believe them when they say 'time travel!'" Jack insists.  
  
"How else do you explain Polly Langford's twin in there?" Sam motions at the room. "Or the fact that they know something Daniel never even told us!"  
  
"Uh, guys, quick question?" Daniel interjects.  
  
"What is it, Daniel?" Jack huffs, glancing at the scientist.  
  
"On that one slide, do you guys remember a flash of light splayed out on the ground like a flashlight beam, or a visible vortex piercing through the side?" Daniel asks.  
  
"Flashlight beam," Jack answers.  
  
"Visible Vortex, why?" Sam asks.  
  
Both of them hesitate, glancing at each other, confused, before turning back to Daniel.  
  
"Because I literally just watched the image on the laptop change before my eyes," Daniel says. "The screen cut to static and when it came back, it'd changed."  
  
"That's impossible," Jack says.  
  
"...Not if time really has been changed by whatever event sent them into our world?" Sam offers. "Think about it, if the timeline DID change so drastically as they're implying-"  
  
"Aliens, wormholes, time travel," Jack waves it off. "I don't buy it. Can't buy it. I need proof that they're not just making it up before I buy anything they're selling."  
  
"Do you own a cabin in Minnesota?" Daniel asks, and the hallway seems to drop in temperature, despite the actual temperature not changing at all, with the way Jack and Sam freeze upon the mention of that.  
  
 _"Did They Mention That?"_ Jack asks, very carefully.  
  
"Yeah," Daniel nods. "And they wanted to know if the pond had fish in it or not."  
  
"Jack-" Sam starts.  
  
He interrupts by raising his hand- and then moves it down to his side after a moment's thought.   
  
He marches into the Ward Room.  
  


* * *

  
  
"Okay," Jack O'neill says, closing the door behind him, and leaving the four of you alone with him. "I've got one question. Say I have a cabin, which I may or may not own- Describe it to me."  
  
Your name is Cassandra Fraiser, and you describe the Cabin's layout to a T- after all, you have a few good memories of the place etched firmly in your mind.  
  
For good measure, you even throw in details about the one funky little curve in the Pond's outline and how it sort of looks like-  
  
Jack cuts you off with a- "Okay. Fine. I believe you. But you can't tell anyone else that place exits. Alright?"  
  
He looks as if his life depends on it. It probably does if he and Sam-  
  
Well. You nod in agreement. And the team promises the location as a vow of secrecy.  
  
Thus sworn, he asks, "What do you need to happen?"  
  
"We need a Stargate," Mitchel decides. "And we need a way to fix this timeline before it unravels around us."  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PAUSE FOR DIRECTORS COMMENTARY:
> 
> SG-1 arrives in the altered future. That little fancy device Jude helped build sure came in handy, didn't it? 
> 
> Major changes to this timeline from canon Continuum? Mainly, Jack O'neill doesn't get offended by changes to the timeline that Daniel spouts off- because Daniel is from this timeline and shouldnt have any knowledge of those events whatsoever. Also, nobody loses a leg due to frostbite!
> 
> Cassie's falling into a very obviously bad mental state here- we've seen how badly she reacts to losing her vibes before, but adding in the knowledge that Jude is GONE and Cassie is likely to never see Penny again? It's primarily depression, first and foremost, that she's suffering through. She's not handling this well. She's used to being the person who solves problems and she can't do that here... though the reasoning is different from Damara's meddling.
> 
> Where as Damara was simply cloaking herself from Cassie's perspective... there simply is no alternative course of action for Cassie to take. Time itself is... just not coherent enough to be predicted in multiple ways right now. Ba'al fucked up reality that badly. It's a wonder it's holding itself together at this point. 
> 
> And speaking of people barely holding it together, we'll get a glimpse at more of that in the next chapter:
> 
> A6A5: INTERMISSION: Displaced


	6. A6A5: INTERMISSION: Displaced

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know what? Here. Have an early Bonus Chapter for the week!

Your name is Artoria Regahro Gray, and you awaken someplace strange with the accompanying knowledge that You Should Not Exist.  
  
You're standing...  
  
Is this a forest?  
  
Is this Diaspora?  
  
Time warps- you see distant, achingly familiar echoes of people you've only met in passing, in a moment you've never personally witnessed.  
  
There's an explosion of light, and suddenly, a chunk of Bronze hued crystal lands at your feet.  
  
You touch it, and- FLICKER. _**ZZAAAAAAAPVRRRRRRROOOMMMMMMMSSSSHSHSHSHSshshsshsh....**_  
  
You LINK.  
  
You're now standing... in the middle of a blood bath.  
  
There are Dead Jaffa, and dead monsters, all over the place.  
  
Nearby you see...  
  
"I appologise, my Lord, but She has escaped with the child," Teal'c says, kneeling before an enraged Ba'al, and a very sour looking Artoria Pendragon- rather, Qetesh, if you're reading the situation correctly.  
  
You'd duck and hide but... they don't seem to see you.  
  
 **"You have nothing to apologize for, Teal'c,"** Ba'al speaks, glaring at the corpse of a dead Jaffa **. "Nirrti tricked us all. If anything, it was my own fault..."** _[for not realizing her turn of heart was a piece of her soul triggered from multiple matters of circumstance, one of which I happened to provoke.]_ **"For putting so much faith in her reformation."**  
  
You blink, gazing his thoughts as they whirl around.  
  
 **"As for the matter of Nirrti's escape with our child, we will find her and the child eventually,"** Ba'al says. _[Even if it takes us another thirty years to do it. I'll have to time travel again to ensure that the loops are maintained properly. Damn it!]_  
  
You gaze to Artoria... Qetesh... the Goa'uld's thoughts are focused on the myriad ways in which she'd kill Nirrti for this betrayal... the Host's thought's are musing over bearing another child in a very warped manner.  
  
It scares you. It scares you so much you take a step backwards.  
  
Your foot squelches in something wet, and despite the sound ringing out loud and clear, only Teal'c's head turns, inclining towards you.  
  
You see his eyes scrunch in confusion for all of a moment before- _**VRRRRRMMMSSSHHSSHSSH!**_  
  
You find yourself on a beach. There are three moons in the sky. Two pink, one green.  
  
"Gray!?"  
  
You turn in surprise, and you see Kohiru Karren, staring at you as she stands, knee deep in the water.  
  
"Gray?! Is that you!??" Karren runs your way, hope in her eyes. "Gray! What the hell is going on here!?"  
  
You don't know, and while you wish you did- you can't quite communicate that before-  
  
 ** _VRRRRRRRMMMMMSSSSHSHSHSHSHShshshshs...._**  
  
You're gone again, suddenly standing in a forest on... on...  
  
Earth. You can tell it's earth because of the moon, and because of the stars... And because of a Cargo Ship landing in a clearing nearby.   
  
A girl stumbles out of the entry hatch, carrying a large box on her back, and wheeling a cradle behind her.   
  
The fuck is going on here?   
  
The girl's eyes light up with a flash of a Goa'uld symbiote, and---  
  
 _ **[GRAY!]**_ Karren's voice suddenly echoes in your mind, and you tug on that string- pulling yourself backwards through the cosmos towards your mentor...   
  
By the Maker, if Karren is experiencing this too, what about Rhubee??  
  
That extra string of thought gets tangled up in your trajectory and you find yourself on a different part of Atlernia.  
  
Rhubee Xaolon stands in the burning remains of a small town, gazing upwards at an uncaring Alternian Battle Cruiser powering on its weapons and preparing to fire.  
  
You rush your friend- tackle her out of the way, and TUG on the string from Karren's mind.  
  
 ** _VRRRMMMMMSSSHHHHSSSshhhhsshhh..._**  
  
And then you and she are back on the beach with a startled Karren.  
  
"Rhubee!" Karren rushes to her partner and hugs her.  
  
"What the-?" Rhubee glances around. "What the fuck? What just happened? Last thing I remember I was on Atlantis and then everything-" She stops, sinking into the hug. "...Then everything was burning. I... What's going on?"  
  
"Everything just vanished, right?" Karren asked. "Then we found ourselves somewhere else where we shouldn't be, right?"  
  
"I... I think Time is Broken," you say.   
  
"That's... How the fuck does that happen?" Karren asks.  
  
"I'm not entirely sure," you say, gazing up at the moons, and watch as the stars start going out. "But I think we need to get out of here, and Fast!"  
  
You grab them both up in arm, and focus on the last member of your quartet.  
  
If these two remembered, then so should RUBY BRANWEN!!  
  
 ** _VRRRRMMMMSSSHSH!_**  
  
The three of you wind up in the desert outside of a town.  
  
The moon is high, the starts twinkle gleefully, and the breeze is cold and refreshing.  
  
There is also a human girl standing there, not five yards away from you, staring on with confusion and elation.  
  
"You guys..." Ruby runs over and joins the four of you in a hug. "YOU'RE REAL! OH THANK THE MAKER!"  
  
You have no idea what the hell is actually happening right now, but you're grateful that you've managed this much.  
  
Also, Damn. Your wings are REALLY sore all of a sudden despite you not even having really used them??  
  
Something is just not right here.  
  
Still. You've managed something small, at least.  
  
It takes time to piece together, but it becomes readily clear that something went wrong with time, and you four quite simply SHOULD NOT EXIST. It's like you're remnants of a discarded future. It's strange, insane, and downright confusing.  
  
You feel as if you are forgetting something important. Like you should KNOW what is going on and why everything is like this, but you can't.  
  
The memories are simply not there- like they were cut out by a pair of garden sheers with no care for subtlety.  
  
You all have some minor cognitive dissonance like that, right now. It's as if whatever happened to the timeline tried to put you somewhere where you'd belong, but gave up because the puzzle pieces didn't fit.  
  
Rhubee woke up in the middle of a burning town. Karren in the ocean you found her at. Ruby here outside of Catherine. And you... you in that forest on Diaspora.  
  
The chunk of crystal you picked up simply vanished at some point in all the Link-jumping.  
  
You are Artoria Gray, and you and your friends are DISPLACED... and none of you have any idea of what caused things to break in order to fix them.  
  
You get the feeling it's going to be a Long Year.

* * *

  
You were wrong. It wasn't just a single long year at all.  
  
It wound up being a single long year spread out across several decades- as you and your crew bounce from time anchor to time anchor- arranging events to ensure they played out well.  
  
Convincing Daniel's publicist to not let him publish his theories on the Pyramids? Easy.

Setting FIRE to Daniel's house to arrange for him to cross paths with an passing-by-on-a-morning-jog Jack O'neill? A thousand times harder.  
  
Getting Sam Carter to not go to NASA and avoid a fiery death on a broken Space Shuttle? Astronomically hard.  
  
Getting her to cross paths with Jack O'neill and kick start their romance early before Jack ever met his first wife? Astonishingly not that hard at all. So easy, in fact, that it happened without your interference at all.  
  
And spliced in the moments in-between, you're dancing between random points in the timeline- observing, and focusing your observations to pin points together so that they don't start vibrating into dissolution because the timeline itself is in a constant state of ZERO SUM ERROR.   
  
Ba'al fucked things up bad. So fucking bad. The universe itself has no idea how to resolve this ongoing paradox- and things have only started to get worse now that SG-1 has arrived, forcing you all to work double time.  
  
And slowly, surely, your missing memories have started to return to you in piecemeal. But... it's not enough to tell you how to FIX THIS.   
  
This is a mess. A bloody, royal mess, and you have no idea how to fix this except to hold reality together as a solid whole.

It's been a long year, and you're just ready for it to be over already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DIRECTORS COMMENTARY:
> 
> We get a glimpse at Gray's role in events, now, as well as some after effects of the psychic bond she'd forged with Karren, Rhubee, and Ruby when fighting over the Replicator Homeworld.
> 
> Those girls got dragged along for the ride with Gray, when time simply had no idea what to do with her and her powers. They're ghosts, essentially. We also get some wider glimpses of time itself not working right. After all, the bracelet shattering shouldn't happen, right? And yet... some aftershocks and afterimages of it still remain, and Gray seems to have picked up a piece of it that may have retroactively given her some powers in the past of the main timeline!
> 
> ...Yeah, that barely makes any sense at all and it should come as no surprise that time is seriously messed up right now. As I posted in a comment not too recently, There's basically three types of time paradox the universe can handle and all three are happening at once and the universe has no idea how to handle it. Normally, a paradox of this size would just erase everything at once and start fresh, but, hey, the Cairo Overcoat's giving it a chance to resolve itself without getting to that point!
> 
> Next Chapter: A6A5: ACT 4: Interviews with madmen.


	7. A6A5: ACT 4: Interviews with madmen.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning, one of the Interviewers is kinda- okay, more like fairly intensely- insensitive and keeps calling Mordred by the wrong name/pronouns.  
> ALSO: You're getting this chapter at a WEIRD TIME because I have NO IDEA what my schedule sunday is going to be like. I'm just. Giving up with a proper schedule on this Act at this point. Good Grief. At least it's appropriately chaotic, I guess.

**ELMENDORF AIRFORCE BASE. 2001.**  
  
The members of SG-1 reside in different interrogation rooms.  
  
"It's common knowledge that in 1998, a young woman then-named Polly Paldoran married her high school boyfriend Joe Langford shortly before they discovered the lost Cavern of D'ni beneath the New Mexico desert." A female interviewer said to Mordred. "It's also common knowledge that late last year, an assassin murdered Polly Langford and her husband in the middle of Times Square during a book tour." She presented a photograph to Mordred. "This is her."  
  
"And that's not me," Mordred says. "For the tenth time since all this started, she might look like me, but that girl?" He taps at the photograph of a woman who could have passed as Mordred had he embraced his natural born femininity instead of his inner manliness. "That is Not. Me."  
  
"So you have absolutely no recollection of the assassination attempt whatsoever?"  
  
"Oh for crying out loud- NO! How many times do I have to say it!? I am MORDRED PENDRAGON and I am a GUY. Not this girl named Polypa or whatever her name was!"  
  
In another room, Mitchel is sort of rambling.  
  
"Stargate Command is a branch of the United States Air Force established in 1990....something-"  
  
Jonas correctly states in another room with "1994."  
  
"Ninety Four or Ninety Seven, I forget the exact year," Mitchel continues on. "For the purposes of exploration and the establishment of peaceful relations between new worlds."  
  
Jonas chuckles. "Actually, it was less of an Altered Timeline than it was this whole Multiverse Thing, thanks to a device called a Quantum Mirror."  
  
"It operates in secret from a facility underneath Cheyenne Mountain," Mitchel continues.  
  
"The point is," Jonas continues, "I know you're all thinking we're insane, but we're not."  
  
"Look!" Mordred runs his hands through his hair. "If you won't believe me when I tell you that I am _**THAT MORDRED,**_ who died, ascended to another plane of existence for a thousand or so years, and came back to life! Then **_STOP ASKING ME ABOUT WHO I AM MOST DEFINITELY NOT! GOD!_ **Even Vala was better at acknowledging this than you all are!"  
  
"Better at what, Miss Langford?" The interviewer asks.  
  
"THAT! Acknowledging the fact that I am _NOT THAT PERSON, and I never WAS! **GOD!**_ This isn't that hard to understand! _This isn't even a **TRANS THING** you, you, idiot!_ This is the simple fact that you keep fucking calling me by a Name THAT IS NOT MINE and never was!"  
  
"A list?" Mitchel asks. "You- you want a list of every planet we've ever visited?"  
  
"Yes," the interviewer nodded.  
  
"Okay, well, you gotta be specific. Do you just want Milky Way, or do you want EVERY planet I've ever personally set foot on because there are a few in other galaxies beyond our own included in that list."  
  
"Her name is Penny," Cassandra speaks up for the first time the whole interview. "She's four years old. She's got red hair like mine, and green eyes like Jude's sister and father, and she's got adorable little freckles. She loves Pokemon, and her favorite is Glaceon- the Ice Type Eeveelution."  
  
"Then we discovered that the symbols in a combination of seven represented a gate address, with the home planet being the point of origin. It was just a matter of figuring out which was the symbol for Earth, being the home planet," Mitchel continues on.  
  
"Can you repeat that last part?" The interviewer asks, and Jonas stares in disbelief.  
  
"I- I've given you all the details on our allies and our enemies that I can think of, and you want to hear it again?" He asks.  
  
"No, I just... This is a personal thing, about that last thing you said," the man states. "About a girl in a gray cloak. I've seen her in my dreams, and out of the corner of my eye in the grocery store sometimes."  
  
"...Are you messing with me?" Jonas peers for a moment, then says. "Okay, well, her name was Gray, and she was a translator for the Bahro..."  
  
"What do you Mean _'Glaceon Doesn't Exist'?"_ Cassandra asks, her tone growing sharp and frigid as a blizzard.  
  
"I mean, no Pokemon of that description was released in the last game that came out."  
  
Cassandra stares for several long moments before she starts to cry. "All of this and- and I don't even get THAT? I don't get that one last connection back to her!?"  
  
"...known as Kassa, and it's like space corn, but, Oh, many, that's a story you wanna hear over a couple of long drinks, and I don't want to tell sober," Mitchel shakes his head with a tired chuckle.   
  
"What's so funny?" The interviewer asks.  
  
"Have you ever had your high school class reunion crashed by bounty hunters because you were stopping Drug Shipments and the dealers of those drugs wanted you gone?" Mitchel asks. "Because in hindsight, all of that was pretty damn funny, even if it was terrifying at the time. And that's _**NOT**_ including this girl who had a crush on me ripping off the head of her own robotic duplicate."  
  
 ** _"VALA LISTENED WHEN I TOLD HER TO SHOVE THE MISS-GENDERING!"_ **Mordred snapped. "And _You!? You're taking it SO FAR WORSE because this isn't even miss-gendering at this point!_ You're _ **FUCKING**_ not even **_LISTENING_** to a word I'm saying! _**Why the fuck are you focusing so damn much on who the hell I'm NOT when you should be listening to me when I tell you that Earth and EVERY OTHER PLANET in this UNIVERSE is in GRAVE DANGER and you don't seem to give a FLYING FUCKING RAT'S ASS ABOUT ANY OF IT!!"**_  
  
"..." The female interviewer swallowed.  
  
"Look," Mitchel leaned across the table. "If you seriously want to hear the answer to that question, buy me a fucking beer and I'll gladly tell you more. But trust me, that is NOT one of the stories you want me telling sober."  
  
"How exactly are we in danger?" The female interviewer finally asked.  
  
 _ **"Oh My GOD! For the UMPTEENTH TIME!"**_ Mordred yells.  
  
"I want a break," Cassandra requests.  
  
"I want to talk to somebody else!" Mordred demands. _"This woman has done nothing but focus on none of the things we need to talk about and keeps diverting to the fact I look like some celebrity princess who's **DEAD AND GONE! Can we MOVE THE FUCK ON ALREADY?"**_  
  
"Ba'al has changed history," Jonas says. "And I'm wrapping this up by saying that this is Not How Things Are Supposed To Be."  
  


* * *

  
  
 **FEBRUARY 4TH, 2001.**  
  
A metal door slams shut, and the four members of SG-1 find themselves in an Airplane Hangar.  
  
There's a table in the center of the room, upon which a fine variety of food stuffs sit. It's mostly sandwiches, a few bags of chips, coffee, and water, though.   
  
What gets everyone's attention is General Hank Landry sitting at the head of it.  
  
"Come, come," he motions. "You've been at this for five days straight. Eat something."  
  
"It's... not like you haven't been feeding us?" Jonas offers as SG-1 moves for the table to take the available seats.  
  
Landry starts to prepare a plate of food. "Fine, well, you should know I just don't like to eat alone."  
  
"...Fair enough," Jonas picks up a sandwich and a plate.  
  
"I'm guessing we all requested you to come and talk?" Mitchel offers.   
  
"Naturally," Landry says. "Something about the fact that I'm the kind of man who'd understand?" He smiles, somewhat amused. "You'll have to forgive me for any discrepancies you might notice. Apparently I got divorced in your timeline. Narrowly avoided that here, actually. Never made it public that it almost happened though, so color me surprised you knew."  
  
"Well," Mordred says, "you did kinda make it obvious when you and Carolyn were arranging dinner dates with your ex wife to try and reconcile things. Was kind of the talk of the base for a while there."  
  
"I can only imagine." Landry shakes his head. "Before we get into the thick of things, please. Do eat. We have ground to cover after. Though, do feel free to talk freely amongst yourselves. The interviews are over, and we've got everything we need."  
  
For a while, everyone works on eating- the members of SG-1 take the time to check in on everyone else.  
  
"How you holding up, Cassie?" Mitchel asks at one point.  
  
"Glaceon doesn't exist," Cassie answers glumly, picking at some RUFFLES brand chips. "I'm trying not to break down again. Thanks for asking, though." She gives him a half-smile.  
  
"So, I heard something interesting," Jonas says. "Apparently my interviewer was having Dreams and Hallucinations about Gray the last half year."  
  
"Gray?" Mordred asks. "That weird kid from D'ni who looked like my cousin or something?"  
  
"He never described her face, but," Jonas chuckles. "He did describe the bat wings, the glowing green eyes, and the oversized gray cloak. Did any of you mention the wings? 'Cause I know it slipped my mind."  
  
"She has wings?" Mordred asks. "That's news to me."  
  
"Same here," Mitchel answers. "How'd you know about that, Jonas?"  
  
"Ah, it was J-" Jonas glances at Cassie- hesitating. "John. Last time he came by Earth. Mentioned that he'd seen her training to use them in a fighting style. Wondered if there was any significance to the tattoos she had, actually."  
  
Everyone knows clearly he was avoiding mentioning Jude, given Cassie's current state, even Cassie herself, given the faint smile that forms on her lips before she takes a sip of water.  
  
"So... Legit premonitions of people who might not exist in this timeline?" Mordred asks.  
  
"That's the take I got from the man," Jonas nods. "I think I vaguely recognized him too from one of our Atlantis visits, so he might have seen her there in the City who knows how many times before time, well... Anyways. What about the rest of you? How'd things go?"  
  
"I got the most annoying interviewer ever," Mordred answers. "She kept insisting I was this Polly Langford chick, and kept on doing it even after I had a DNA test submitted, CONFIRMING that I'm at best a cousin and not, you know, **_Actually Her!_** I swear, I think she was doing it to piss me off."  
  
"My apologies about that," Landry says. "We'd told her to lay off of it once we caught onto what she was doing, and when she didn't, I decided it was time to step in personally."  
  
"Any idea why the fuck she was doing that?" Mordred asks. "Cause it was Annoying as Hell."  
  
"Apparently a relative of hers is a conspiracy nut," Landry shakes his head. "The kind of guy who claimed that Princess Dianna was murdered not by mortal men, but by the Goddess she shared a name with because she was jealous. Some people just get insane when it comes to Celebrities, and I'm willing to bet that's a universal constant."  
  
"...I'm not even going to touch that statement with a ten foot pole, Sir," Mitchel shakes his head. "Speaking of. DNA test?" He looked to Mordred, who nodded.  
  
"Yeah. Apparently I'm a familiar match- no surprise there given the family resemblance- but the genetic drift puts me somewhere between cousin and sibling," Mordred shakes his head. "It's weird, honestly. But some of that weird drift looked intentional."  
  
"Intentional?" Cassandra perks her head up. "Like... Modified intentional?"  
  
A look shifts between the four of them, Landry raises an eyebrow. "You're referring to your experiences with Geneticists who could clone people, correct?"  
  
"Well, we don't know what the state of the Galaxy is in," Mitchel says. "For all we know, Nirrti's out there up to her old tricks again. But... do you think she cloned Artoria?"  
  
"It's the only thing I could come up with to explain why Polly Langford would exist here in this time and not ours," Mordred says. "Baring the possibility that this timeline's me spontaneously decided to descend and have a kid, I mean... Artoria's really the only one who could reasonably start such a family lineage. Why, I don't know, but..."  
  
"But more importantly than why, is How?" Jonas says.   
  
"It's gotta be Ba'al," Mitchel says. "The bastard came back around after Earth's Gate got lost and took Artoria out of Avalon cold storage."  
  
"But then why would a kid of theirs be here on Earth?" Mordred asks.  
  
"...What was her maiden name?" Cassandra asks.   
  
"Polly Langford, you mean?" Landry asks. "It was-  
  
"Paldoran," Mordred speaks up. "The interviewer said it was Paldoran."  
  
Silence fills the room for a moment before Jonas groans- and Mitchel laughs.  
  
 _"Waiiiit a minute,"_ Mordred's eyes narrow as he works something over. "Paldoran. Pal doran. You guys don't think-?"  
  
" _PAL-_ doran?" Mitchel scofs. "Oh, Yeah, I think."  
  
"Paldoran. Mal Doran," Cassie chuckles as well. "Oh boy. That explains a few things."  
  
"Well, that'd partially explain where Vala went," Jonas says. "Ba'al probably kidnapped her as soon as he was able to, and then she went and Kidnapped Ba'al's probably Harcesis child in an attempt to get her out of Ba'al's clutches."  
  
"Wasn't she Qetesh's host, though?" Mitchel asks. "Why would Ba'al change that up?"  
  
"What year was Polly Paldoran Born?" Jonas asks.  
  
"March of 1980," Landry answers, a faint smile forming on his face. He might not know what was going on, but damn if their reactions weren't entertaining.  
  
"1980... Vala would've been about ten then, right?" Mitchel asks.  
  
"Ba'al's a lot of things, but he doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to force a kid to be his queen's new host," Jonas says. "Not if he's got better options. More Powerful Options. If Artoria got cloned and-or revived and made Qetesh's host..." he pauses. "1980... 1980...? March of 1980?"  
  
"Joey," Cassie realizes. "That's when Joey was born. But if whatever happened to the Stargate made it so that Jake Harley never met Anna Claire and they never HAD Joey--?"  
  
"Then Ba'al just screwed himself out of a dozen or more stable time loops," MItchel realizes. "Polly Paldoran was supposed to Replace Joey Claire!"  
  
"And if Vala kidnapped that girl and brought her to Earth before she became of age..." Cassie swallows. "Alternia as a galaxy might not have ever been liberated."  
  
"Replicators Swarming the Galaxy, Mofang blowing up stars..." Mitchel's face grows pale. "Khepri never exiled."  
  
"English might be free and roaming Alternia right now," Jonas says. "This is really bad."  
  
"To say nothing about Anubis?" Mordred shakes his head. "Good grief, if he's out and about and trying to get the Dakara weapon..."  
  
"I take it lunch is off the table?" Landry asks. "Back to business?"  
  
Nods around the table.  
  
"Very well then," Landry begins. "It's of no surprise that I've been listening in to all four of your testimonies. And I've got to say, it's a hell of a story. The fact that you're all willing to eat lunch with me, and have Colonel Jack O'neill and Major Samantha Carter vouching for your authenticity for information you quite possibly shouldn't know tells me that it's not JUST a story after all." He looks at everyone. "But the simple fact of the matter is, none of you Exist. Legally speaking."  
  
Cassandra swallows upon hearing that.  
  
He looks to Mordred, "You look like a dead woman who may very well have been your genetic sibling."  
  
Mordred scowls.  
  
He looks to Jonas and Cassandra, "You two admit to being alien refugees from dead worlds."  
  
Jonas nods in acceptance of that fact.  
  
Then to Mitchel, "And as best as Doctor Lee can figure, you're a living embodiment of either a Grandfather Paradox, or your parents using a different name when you were born this time around."  
  
"...Grandfather Paradox?" Mitchel asks. "I mean, I get my parents going by a different name but. What?"  
  
"There was one Mitchel of note who served in the Merchant Marines in the 30s," Landry explains. "The Captain of the Ocean Freighter Achilles. Which, let's be honest here. If I were even remotely entertaining the possibility you've faked your story, I'd have to admit you've all done your damned research."  
  
"Sir," Cassandra begins. "We're not faking."  
  
"Of course not," Landry says. "And I believe you when you say that. The Pentagon on the other hand has their doubts. However, given my approval alongside Colonel O'neill's? They've authorized an expedition to the Coordinates of this "Antarctic Stargate" and "Ancient Weapons Outpost" that you mentioned."  
  
"So, you're considering letting us go back and set things right?" Mitchel asks.  
  
"For the foreseeable future? No," Landry answers.   
  
"What- but we have to-" Mordred starts to protest.  
  
"'Set things right'?" Landry interjects. "Yes, we understand you believe that. And personally, from what you've described and from the sheer grief of Miss Fraiser Harley? I believe you when you say this isn't how things are supposed to be. But as far as the Pentagon is concerned, "Supposed to be" is relative. And for the time being... Time Travel is not an option that is on the table yet."  
  
There's silence for a moment.  
  
"Yet?" Jonas asks.  
  
"Assuming we can recover the Antarctic Stargate, and get it to do what you say it does," Landry begins, "The Pentagon wishes to use the device to do what you did. Start exploring the galaxy. Discover everything you've discovered... But at the same time there's more nefarious reasons at play for delaying your trek back in time."  
  
"...Let me guess," Cassandra chuckles darkly. "Robert Kinsey?"  
  
"The Not-So-Good Senator is currently under a top secret investigation mandated by the last Presidential administration, and carried forwards by the newly elected President as well, for quite a few nefarious deeds," Landry explains. "We've kept him out of the loop so far, but if this Stargate proves to be real, we believe Senator Kinsey will attempt to do here as he did in your reality. Furthermore, we're going to need to fake your deaths."  
  
"I'm sorry?" Jonas asks.  
  
"We need to kill you off in the eyes of the Government lest Senator Kinsey demand we put you to death to prevent you from going back in time and undoing everything," Landry says.  
  
"The fact that you're even afraid of that says a lot about how bad Kinsey is in this timeline," Mitchel says.  
  
"Given the history you've told us of Kinsey's nefarious deeds in your timeline? We're not willing to take the risk that he'll do whatever he can, let alone abuse this Stargate's time travel abilities to cause even more havoc to reality as we know it," Landry says. "Thus, for the time being, we cannot allow you four to travel through the Stargate for the sake of your own mission."  
  
"And what about Ba'al?" Cassandra asks.  
  
"If this Ba'al shows up after playing the long game, and causes an incident similar to the Anubis guy you mentioned? We'll send you to the Gate immediately to escape." Landry says. "Now, we expect you to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement, in exchange for all of this, you'll be given new identities, and places to live. In different parts of the country for obvious reasons."  
  
The team begins to react, angrily upset- save for Cassandra, who just hangs her head and chokes back a sob, her shoulder shaking in the process.  
  
"You can't just split the four of us up!" Mitchel begins.   
  
"We're not," Landry interjects. "It'll fly better under the radar if you are two pairs of two people, rather than four randomly displaced individuals or a whole group of four. We don't want Kinsey sending _assassins_ after you! Not like how we suspect aided that French madman in assassinating Polly Langford. The decision has already been made at the Highest Level. The only choice of freedom you get now is whom goes with whom."  
  
There's silence for a moment, as Mitchel, Jonas, and Mordred look to Cassandra.  
  
"Understood, Sir," Mitchel says. "We'll make that decision, then."  
  
"Good," Landry nods. "Now, then, if and when the Navy gets this Stargate up and running again, you four MAY be brought in as consultants if we have taken out Senator Kinsey from the equation."  
  
"The Navy?" Mitchel seems to be thrown for a loop.  
  
"But please, do understand," Landry says. "You four will not, ever, be allowed to step through that thing without prior approval from the President himself."  
  
"You're afraid we'd try to repair the timeline and go rouge the first chance we got," Mordred realized.  
  
"Oh, you've made that intention abundantly clear," Landry replies.  
  
"Because we have a responsibility to put things right," Mitchel says. "Our timeline Remembers Us Fixing It."  
  
"And that's the only reason we're even considering letting you do it at all!" Landry says, indignant. "But know this. You do NOT have the RIGHT to decide that course of fate. If you were to succeed, events would change in the lives of thousands, if not millions of people! Who knows HOW many of them would never even be born! My goodness, people!" he sounds rightfully angry. "The arrogance of what you're asking us to consider is--"  
  
Cassandra's hands slap down onto the table as she stands, and glares at him- _"I can count at least TWO off the top of my head, General Landry._ **My HUSBAND. And Our DAUGHTER."**  
  
Landry pauses, and cools his temper down. "You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."  
  
"Damn right you shouldn't," Cassandra growls.  
  
"...If you're willing to accept it, we can bring in a therapist with the proper clearances to discuss-" Landry is cut off as Cassandra raises a finger.  
  
"One. Moment. Please."  
  
Then, she pushes away from the table and storms over to a corner of the hangar.  
  
A moment later, she punches the damned wall hard enough to make it echo through the room like a gun shot.  
  
Then, she quietly returns to the table, and sits back down, nursing a rather red looking fist.   
  
Landry then says, offering, "...Maybe If I hadn't been woken up in the middle of the night and flown out to Alaska, I'd have been more like the kind and sympathetic former General you were hoping for. But if you'd grown up in this timeline--"  
  
"We'd want it to be the same, yes," Cassandra says, tone measured. "And I'm not angry about that, General. Your thoughts on this are exactly what mine are. You don't want to lose what you have, but- General- You have to understand. I've lost just about EVERYONE in my family in one fell swoop." There's a pause, then she says, "I think I might take you up on that Therapist offer. But. Just. _**Don't tell me that you're saving lives here, General.**_ Not when the decision to keep this reality intact **_dooms millions of other lives in another reality in the same breath."_**  
  
She looks him firmly in the eyes for a good long moment.  
  
Then, she concludes, "And please, pass this sentiment along to the President. Just because it's another reality, doesn't mean that it's of no consequence to you whether it lives or dies."  
  
Landry nods. "Very well. I'll leave you to make your decision of who goes where."  
  
Soon, those choices are made, and Landry calls to an Airman to open the hangar doors, for boarding an aircraft.  
  
"And while It's been under less than Ideal Circumstances," Landry says, "It was a pleasure meeting all of you."  
  
"Yeah," Mitchel glances as Cassandra as Jonas puts an arm around her shoulders. "It truly was."  
  
Soon, they board an airplane, and are gone from Alaska.  
  
Hours later, SG-1 split into two, taking two further flights away, and then two different buses in different directions further still.  
  
On a charter bus, Mitchel and Mordred sit as they listen to a male officer lay out the ground rules for their "afterlife."  
  
"At no time are you to make contact by any means with Mister Quin or Miss Fraiser without prior authorization. Any such attempt will be seen as a breach of this agreement, and you will be remanded in custody."  
  
On a remarkably empty City Bus, Jonas and Cassandra listen to a female officer continue on, "You will be provided a suitable home, vehicle, and a living allowance, which may be augmented without penalty should you choose to seek employment in any field other than the following: astrophysics, aerospace, engineering…"  
  
Cassandra choked up on the engineering one, and Jonas squeezed her hand.  
  
"At no time may you discuss, write, or communicate the matters and/or events as stated in this agreement with any person other than your authorized contact. Is that clear, Mister Mitchel?"  
  
Mitchel nodded...  
  
There was a certain irony as they exited the bus to trade for Taxis at the same time, but in different places.  
  
There was even more irony that the house that Mitchel and Mordred had been placed at had been Jane Egbert's house in Washington State in the other timeline, not that either knew that fact either.   
  
"Want to play the part of newly weds, or just head on in?" Mitchel asks, eyeing the front door.  
  
"Doesn't matter," Mordred shrugged a duffel bag over his shoulder. "It's not like it's for keeps anyways."  
  
But there was absolutely no irony to be found as Jonas and Cassandra found themselves playing the role of Father and Daughter in a sub-district of Boston, Massachusetts.  
  
A small suburban apartment was claimed, and Cassandra crashed on the couch, crying herself out from all the strained emotions that had followed.  
  
All four of them had no idea how long this was going to take...  
  
But they each had the same, recurring thought:  
  
"It's going to be a long year."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DIRECTORS COMMENTARY PAUSE:
> 
> This was a hard section to write out for obvious reasons. Mordred gets the brunt of the interviewer pushing the "Are you SURE you dont remember the horrific death your look-alike went through?" arc that Carter did in canon, with an added dose of misgendering and blatant wrong identity. It's one thing to intentionally dead name a person. It's a whole other to intentionally dead name them with a literal dead person who you LITERALLY NEVER WERE and DNA tests prove YOU ARE NOT THAT PERSON. Like. God. Some people. Just. Some people.
> 
> So, it was pointed out ages ago in one of the comment sections that Glaceon shouldn't have existed at that time in universe. I brought up that there were timeline butterflies that had made it happen early... knowing pretty damn well that this was a plot point that was probably going to resurface again here in Continuum, somewhere. I wasn't sure where the specific tie to Penny with Glaceon was going to surface until I actually wrote out this chapter, though, and remembered that comment specifically. I knew it was here that the wham line had to be delivered. And Talk about a wham line. "Glaceon doesn't exist."
> 
> Good Job paradoxically predicting/inspiring this moment by pointing that out, dear reviewer!
> 
> So, the Military here is somewhat more understanding of SG-1's plight seeing the real, valid grief that Cassie's feeling- it hits home that their timeline might actually be *erasing lives* that otherwise existed, and while they certainly feel SG-1 doesn't have the right to declare their timeline null and void because it'd erase lives, GEE, it sure doesn't feel so good to be on the receiving end of that same statement that THEIR Existing is ALSO erasing lives.
> 
> That said, Kinsey is still a righteous bastard no matter the timeline. His absence in canon Continuum felt oddly as if he'd already been taken care of. At the very least, he deserved the mention here. Fucking Kinsey always causing problems.
> 
> Also, fun fact that doesn't really affect the story much at all, Polly Paldoran-Langford is technically a parallel universe version of Polypa Goezee. You can see it in the name. POLY PA-ldoran = Polypa. Joe Langford similarly is a parallel universe version of Joey Claire. Joey, Joe. Female, Male. And they got caught in the crossfire of the whole nasty business with Roxy's bio-family that lead to her being housed up with the Lalondes, descendants of Cassie's future self. See how that all ties in together?
> 
> Next Chapter: A6A5: INTERMISSION: Adoption Papers


	8. A6A5: INTERMISSION: Adoption Papers

Hello, Mitchel and Mordred Cameron.   
  
You don't know me. At least, not personally. Maybe not even a "not yet"? My name is Artoria Regahro Gray. We've never interacted before, never talked... This is my first direct words to either of you as a person. Sure, I've talked with Jude Harley, but that was... strictly professional. Easier, in some regards, than even this is.

I'll get right to the point.  
  
You are my great grandfathers thanks to time travel and adoption.   
  
I will let the implications of that sink in for a moment.  
  
How I came to learn of this was... recent. Shortly after learning of the Atlantis Expedition, and our soon expedited interactions with the D'ni of the other dimension, my Lord, Waver El Melloi the Second, acquired a translation sheet of Ancient to English, and we were able to translate one of several letters that my own Father had delivered to him, some years ago.  
  
With that said, I need to tell you what is the contents of the sealed envelope within this once sealed envelope. They are two of the letters that determine the fate of the timeline, written and rewritten and translated and written again so many times I've lost count of what the actual progression of events are, all to ensure stable time loops outside of what you need to do to fix things.   
  
_**Do NOT Open Them.** _They are destined for another person. Or, they should be, at any rate. ~~If things went right, and you're reading this letter after a successful Extraction Ceremony...~~

 ~~I hate this whole thing. I hate that I can't just... Talk. To People. Without ruining the possible stability of everything. Not yet. I can't risk influencing things by word making its way to Ba'al and- And I hate this. I hate it. I hate how crazy and unstable all of this already feels. I-~~  
  
This is the only letter that doesn't have a stable loop of information destined for your future actions post whatever events result with you being placed in 1939.   
  
The letter Written in Ancient... It lays out much of our family history. However, that letter itself... we were told not to write it down for you to reference. No, apparently, that letter is yours to write- and eventually translate into Ancient to ensure it remains untranslated by us until the moment where we translated. (I've included the requisite copy of Ancient-To-English in the attached documents in this letter, as well as the means to anchoring it to the inside of the sealed letter without rupturing its seals. Sorry for the riddles, but Yeesha was the only one who knew that technique and if I could have explained it in more simpler terms I would have. I know, it's going to be a headache to figure out, but that's simply how the paradox of this whole thing works out. I don't nearly understand why it has to be this way except that it already was. _ **)**_ ~~I think I'm starting to hate time travel...~~  
  
It also mentioned this letter that I am writing to you, so I know there was a letter like this, but not what it said. I know what it must say and how to accomplish stable time loops as a matter of fact, but...  
  
I know this must come as a surprise to you. I know it's come as a surprise to me, as well, when I learned first hand all of the insane facts of reality that I now have to deal with and wrestle with.  
  
It's... It's so damned awkward thinking about talking to any of you at this point of time. I can't risk you knowing too much yet before it's time.   
  
The Device Jude and Ruby and I built is a Remote Stargate Interface. It's pre-programmed with two addresses to fire off in the event of "the catastrophic overhaul of time itself" that I'm told is going to happen. If it doesn't happen, uh, well. I guess that means other versions of you already fixed this mess? In which case...  
  
If somehow I survive this whole ordeal, and we've made it through without time being disrupted from our perspective, then you should know that I am very interested in talking to you, and Mordred, and Jude, and Cassandra, and Vala. SG-1 is... my family, though it feels I never had a part in it until now.  
  
I hate this.  
  
I hate how awkward all of this is.   
  
I'm a coward, really. I don't know if I have it in me to confront you myself once this is over.   
  
I've spent so much time agonizing over what to say for this letter, and yet... I still feel as if I have nothing to say.  
  
I guess the main thing is. Please don't screw up so that you forget about me? I... I want to exist. Please don't forget whatever it is you end up doing that makes me... me?? I guess.  
  
I...  
  
I'm sorry if that's selfish but it's all I can request right now.

I'll see you on the other side.  
  
_Gray.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DIRECTORS COMMENTARY:
> 
> There's not much to say about this letter. I think the awkwardness is inherently self explanatory, really.
> 
> Next chapter: A6A5: ACT 5 ACT 1: Alone and Together.


	9. A6A5: ACT 5 ACT 1: Alone and Together.

**ONE YEAR LATER...**  
  
Your name is "Mitchel Cameron"- of all the ironies the fake name they gave you is exactly the same name your alternate-timeline-now-future-self used as what you thought was an alias- the year is 2002, and it's about a thousand years too early for you to be FLIRTED WITH by some recently moved into the neighborhood single mother with a toddler who doesn't buy for a minute that you and Mordred are married because you 'haven't had kids yet' as if that's some great benchmark for romantic entanglement, Miss Heather without a Husband.  
  
The worst part is you recognize her from your own damned timeline. A Serial Killing Widower whose husbands all suffered untimely deaths via BLACK WIDOW SPIDER BITES.  
  
You've already made some anonymous calls trying to get her in trouble before she puts you into an early grave.  
  
What did you do to deserve this fate?  
  


* * *

  
  
Your name is Mordred "Cameron" and you'd be quite reasonably sure you were seeing things if it weren't for the fact that the figure you keep seeing out of the corner of your eyes is that Gray girl with your mother's name.  
  
The last few weeks you've been seeing her more and more frequently out of the corner of your eye. It's damning, is what it is. She's not only haunting random people's dreams, but she's literally haunting people.  
  
You've done some mild Internet Research posts for "The Ghost of Polly Langford" out of interest and about 90% of them are Gray sightings.   
  
The remaining 10% appeared last year around your town for about three months, and were all YOU. There have been a few sightings from passerby's on the internet, it seems, but people are quick to shoot it down as "not legit ghost sightings."  
  
Considering you recognized at least one of those posts as a SOCK PUPPET used by the US Air Force, you probably have someone left to monitor your situation online to keep the heat off.   
  
And fortunately everyone in town quickly realized that no, you were not Polly Langford, no, you weren't knowingly related to her, and yes, you get quite pissy when people point out the relation. Word got around.  
  
But, Damn, is this annoying.  
  
Because now people are wondering if "Polly's Ghost" is haunting "Her long lost relative" with how many of the sightings have happened around you.  
  
You wish Gray would fucking just come visit you at your house already and not keep jump scaring you in the aisles of the fucking KROGER FREEZER SECTION.  
  
You're considering an end aisle cap of some SLUSH DRINK MIXES when a hand gets put over your mouth and you feel the pointy end of a ZAT GUN pointed into your back.  
  
Your first thought is that, oh, great, the conspiracy boards were RIGHT about you being selected for assassination again- except this time by a rogue Trust agent, likely.  
  
Then, the would-be assassin speaks with a startlingly, achingly familiar voice.  
  
"Don't scream. We're going to go straight into the women's restroom now."  
  
Your second thought is- "Is this Vala?" Because. That sounds a LOT like Vala's voice. And a Zat suddenly makes a lot more sense.  
  
You give a nod, and glance around as the hand pulls away from your mouth.  
  
Your eyes dart around... you don't see anybody around to help.  
  
Fuck. Vala would do that, wouldn't she?  
  
You walk as directed towards the women's restroom, and as you walk, you catch sight of a security camera with a piece of Goa'uld tech slapped on the side of it.  
  
Yeeeep. This is seriously smelling like a Vala plan.  
  
You're taken into the women's bathroom- oh, wow, these are a lot nicer than the men's rooms- and then- "Turn around!" You do so, and come face to face with fucking Vala Mal Doran, wielding a Zat Gun.  
  
"Now then," Vala starts, "you're going to tell me why you look EXACTLY like my dear, deceased little sister and you're going to tell me NOW!"  
  
You blink, taking in everything about this situation. And then you fucking LAUGH.  
  
"Wh- What the hell is so funny!?' Vala asks- neigh, DEMANDS!   
  
"Oh My Fucking God, this is _ **HILARIOUS,**_ " you can't believe this. _"A fucking **YEAR** of this mistaken identity bullshit and it brings fucking Vala Mal Doran of all people into this fucking Kroger to THREATEN ME with a fucking **ZAT GUN IN THE WOMEN'S BATHROOM!"**_ you can't help but laugh more. "This is the universe fucking with me now, isn't it?"  
  
"Okay... lady, I don't know what your problem is-" Vala begins, and you can't help but laugh more.  
  
Though, it's a bit more pained.  
  
 _"I'M NOT A GIRL, VALA!"_ you tell her. "We've HAD this conversation! My name is Mordred Cameron and I'm a GUY!"  
  
"...Well I suppose this makes my choice of restroom a bit more awkward," Vala remarks. "But there's no way I'm doing this in the men's room. I don't think they cleaned in there since- Wait. How the hell do you even know what a Zat Gun is and why do you think we've HAD this conversation before, Mister Mordred?"  
  
"Oh, man, that's a LONG ass story," you can't help but laugh again. "Tell you what. Why don't you put that Zat away, come with me back to my place so we can talk to Mitchel and get this whole thing sorted out."  
  
"Who the Hell is Mitchel?" Vala asks.  
  
"Oh, he's going to LOVE this," you snort.   
  


* * *

  
_"In Eighteen-Hundred-One! The Revolution had Been Won! And Uncle Sam's Favorite Son had a Job he Needed Done!"_  
  
 _"Which brought Jack to a Lady, both beautiful and smart! Who found his tricks intriguing!"_  
  
 _"A SCOUNDREL WITH A HEART!"_  
  
Your name is Cassandra Fraiser, and you can't help but feel like whoever cast this show- JACK OF ALL TRADES- did so using actors who looked like Jack O'neill and Sam Carter, and did so... very intentionally.  
  
You say this because your version of this show wasn't produced by MARTIN LLOYD PRODUCTIONS or starred RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON in the starring role. No, that honor went to BRUCE CAMPBELL in your timeline.  
  
...You don't remember the female lead actress's name of your timeline's version of the show, but you're pretty sure it wasn't AMANDA TAPPING.  
  
Alternate Timelines can be REALLY WEIRD sometimes. Especially ones that are fairly unstable in some obvious regards.  
  
Still, dissecting this random TV show that, for all its differences is identical in plot to the show you watched before, isn't going to get you anywhere today.  
  
You mostly just leave the TV on to do some cleaning.  
  
Cleaning. 'Cause you got nothing else to do besides go to therapy and grief counseling.  
  
It's helped. Sorta. Kinda.  
  
Okay so you may have been diagnosed with depression but, c'mon, that's... like... pretty obvious? Given the circumstances?  
  
At least the Therapist is actually cleared to know most of the story of your life, and has been able to sneak you tidbits of information every now and then. Tidbits such as the fact that dear Senator Kinsey's days in office are officially numbered to double digits. It's a miracle he didn't get to be Vice President in this timeline even though Hayes wound up president both times. (Though, it was shocking to find out Elizabeth Weir wound up being the VP in this timeline. Only to get shot by an assassin thought to be hired by Kinsey himself just days after inauguration. Which is freaky when you compare her fate on Atlantis. Which, maybe it was a good thing she didn't hear about that. That would have to be so awkward.)  
  
If real life were a video game, though, you'd probably have ground your HOUSEKEEPING SKILLS to 100 at this point.  
  
There's something RELAXING and ZEN about the whole IRONIC HOUSEWIFE ROUTINE, you're finding.

Even while they're keeping you from your FATE to RESTORE TIME, the US Air Force has given you the cheeky irony of pushing that fate forwards on another level.  
  
Your FAKE IDENTITY is JANET FREEMAN, and the last time you were at therapy, your therapist slipped you a folder of documents containing US BIRTH DOCUMENTS for all of SG-1 properly dated to the appropriate eras and SEVERAL PASSPORTS valid for the years 1928 TO 1958 as well as PROPERLY DOCUMENTED for VARIOUS OTHER COUNTRIES.   
  
Apparently at some point Cameron's talk about his future self securing his own parents with FAKE IDENTITIES got through somebody's skull because there's also documentation in here for those two.  
  
You'd wondered how Past-Future Cam pulled that off.  
  
Now you know.  
  
You'll have to wait for the NEXT SCHEDULED ALLOWED MEET UP to get these to him, though.  
  
They want you all in COLORADO after Kinsey's taken out. Apparently Cam and Mordred are going out that way by car. You and Jonas- your "Dad"- are going to be flying out.  
  
Jonas got some job in a bookstore to keep himself busy.   
  
You've got cleaning to do that for you.  
  
Ugh! Enough self introspection, Cassie! Get back to that cleaning! Keep busy. Gotta keep busy...  
  


* * *

  
  
"So... what you're telling me is..." Vala pauses. "You two are from an alternate timeline where Ba'al wasn't the all knowing mastermind he is now, because he's an all knowing mastermind because he's using time travel, and already used it to prevent Earth from becoming a Major Political Player in the events of the Galaxy as a whole. And we used to be teammates?"  
  
"Yes!" You're once again Cam Mitchel and GOD. YES. "You've got it all in the first try!"  
  
Vala glances to Mordred, then back to you, and says, "Pardon me a moment, I need to talk to myself."  
  
She gets up, goes over to a corner, and starts mumbling to herself in a decidedly Un-Vala way, but is actually a pretty good dead ringer for when Sam and Jolinar got going on a verbal tangent sometimes. You hear the name Ka'turnal come up.  
  
Oh, geeze, that also explains a few things, doesn't it?  
  
And thus, Vala returns, sits down, and then her eyes flash and her voice modulates- **"Hello. My name is Ka'turnal, and I-"**  
  
"Used to be the System Lord Nirrti, grew a conscience, and wanted to help people instead of hurt them?" You offer.  
  
 **"...I take it we've met before?"** Ka'turnal- Nirrti- FUCK- asks.  
  
"It was before our time at the SGC, but, damn if you didn't leave a huge, heroic impression," you say.  
  
 **"I did?"** She asks, shocked.  
  
"Well, yeah," you nod. "The whole thing on 666 wound up getting a documentary episode about it. The you of our timeline threw another doctor out of the line of staff fire while you were working to save a soldier who got shot in the back with a Staff weapon. The shot went clean through his shoulder! And he lived because you helped save him and the other doctor."  
  
 **"It's a miracle that man survived, if that's the case,"** Ka'turnal says. **"Even System Lords have died from lesser wounds... Thought I suppose that I myself would count in that regard. That me died, didn't she?"**  
  
"Yeah," you nod, a bit grimly. "But, hey, if you help us fix this time travel shit show, you've got a place on our team. Both of you."  
  
 **"That's..."** They swallow, unsure what to make of that. **"Excuse us for a moment again."**  
  
Then they go back to the corner, mumble again for a few minutes, before returning.  
  
"Well!" Vala says. "I think then we need to talk about what the hell Ba'al was planning with my little sister, Polly."  
  
"Let me guess," Mordred begins, "Harcesis child between him and Qetesh, with Qetesh being a very pretty woman who looks like me who got pulled out of a block of ice?"  
  
Vala nods, stating, "Pretty much that."  
  
"What can you tell us about that assassin?" You ask. "Was he one of Ba'als?"  
  
"No, thank goodness for that otherwise we'd have a whole different set of problems," Vala shakes her head. "The mans name was Albert Monroe. I think he was... French? Or at least a France adjacent country."  
  
"Sauville or Saubreme?" you offer.  
  
"One of those, yes," Vala pauses. "Did you encounter him, too?"  
  
"It's a long story," you say. "But, uh, to keep it short, he was a real bastard who was going after the SGC through Political avenues so he could find the granddaughter of some distant relative of his and kill her and the rest of her family. He wound up shoved off of a Casa Bonita bell tower onto a truck in the parking lot, with his insides burnt to a fine, crispy consistency."  
  
"Serves the bastard right," Vala nods in agreement. "The man was obsessed with any girls who were blonde and had green eyes... We're just lucky that Polly and Joe's kid took more after Joe than Polly. I was able to keep him safe."  
  
"....Joe Langford, right?" You ask, and Vala nods. "What do you know about his family?"  
  
"Quite a lot," Vala says. "I did some digging into the family history when Polly started dating him. Joe was the... lemme see... either great grandson or just grandson of famed Adventurer Jake Harley and Catherine Langford- who got disgraced from the Langford estate for an out-of-wedlock childbirth. The family was fairly off-the-grid for most of the time until Joe Langford took to the scene and restarted the family legacy of Archeology with the D'ni cavern discovery."  
  
"Holy shit," you stare at Mordred. "That explains why Jude and Joey vanished on us."  
  
"Jake hooked up with Catherine Langford instead!" Mordred stares. _"Holy shit doesn't even cover it!"_  
  
"And then their great-grand-something of a kid hooks up with your half-sister and have a kid too!" You can't help but laugh, as something grand and cosmic sort of slots into place.   
  
"What's so funny?" Vala asks.  
  
"I need to check something," you say. And then you go for your long hidden-away Sylladex up in the bedroom. You'd just managed to keep it hidden when you were searched back in Alaska. And with it, a series of letters that accompanied Jude's little pocket-sun device.   
  
You check over everything until you find the one letter addressed to YOU from Little miss Gray herself.  
  
You return, and place the letter on the table.  
  
"I think I just figured out how the hell Gray looks so much like you and Artoria, Mo," you say.  
  
"Wha-?" Mordred's eyes widen, remembering that letter's contents. "Noooo!"   
  
"Oh, yes!" You nod.  
  
"Where's the kid now, Vala?" Mordred asks, suddenly needing to know.  
  


* * *

  
  
You are Jonas Quinn "Freeman" and you're leaving work when you hear the whining keen of an AL'KESH engine above you.  
  
You watch the thing zip by overhead, chased by F-16s.  
  
Ba'al.  
  
You grab your cellphone and start dialing while running for home.  
  
"This is Jonas Quin, I need to speak to your commanding officer! Tell him it's Urgent and It's related to Project Sierra Gulf Charlie."  
  


* * *

  
  
 _ **"We bring you Breaking News!"**_  
  
Your name is Cassandra Fraiser, and you turn as your broadcast is interrupted.  
  
 _ **"Alien Craft have been seen across the United States and we're hearing similar reports from Europe and Asia that-"**_  
  
You don't care about the words.  
  
What you see on screen is a fucking AL'KESH BOMBER.  
  
Ba'al has come.

You have the briefest sensation of what could have been a VIBE, was was more than likely just your mind clicking back into the SGC MISSION MINDSET.

IT'S GO TIME.

* * *

  
  
"Thank you so much for looking after Jo', Kimberly!" Vala says as she picks up a young boy from daycare. "I owe you one!"  
  
"Hey, it's the least I could do after-" Whatever the red haired "Kimberly Possible" was going to say is cut out by the whining keen of AL'KESH ENGINES.  
  
"Oh Fuck," you are Mordred, and you realize exactly what this means.  
  
Mitchel has his phone out immediately. "This is Colonel Cameron Mitchel--"  
  
Today's date is FEBRUARY 4TH, 2002, and almost exactly one year after SG-1 was split up... You get the firm impression that you're about to be brought back together as violently as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PAUSE FOR DIRECTORS COMMENTARY:
> 
> HEY HEY! IT'S VALA! What are the odds?? XD 
> 
> There's just something funny about the idea of Vala trying to stick Mordred up for questions and Mordred just laughing it off. What's less funny is Cassie's current mindset. Poor girl's gone obsessive cleaning much like canon Homestuck's MOM LALONDE did when she was raising Rose. The implied loss of Joey and Jude being behind Mom!Roxy's obsessive housewife routine is a bit more stated heavily here for Cassie. 
> 
> Here, we also get some explanation as to how Cameron set up his own parents with fake identities, let alone how future-past SG-1 survived in the past without getting in trouble by not having valid birth certificates and passports and such. The US GOVT. OF THIS TIMELINE made extremely convincing fakes. How convincing? They're practically indistinguishable from the real thing because they are the real thing. How crazy is that??
> 
> But HEY! The team's about to get back together! That's great news!
> 
> Next Chapter, a Before and After puzzle! Would you like to solve?
> 
> A6A5: ACT 5 ACT 2: Reunited and it Feels So Good, Bad, and Ugly.
> 
> (Yeah, I made a Wheel of Fortune Reference in a chapter title by merging two song titles together. So what? Also, yes, the Daycare woman is a Kim Possible nod.)


	10. A6A5: ACT 5 ACT 2: Reunited and it Feels So Good, Bad, and Ugly.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No need to lose your heads over it. Content Warning: There's a couple decapitations this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note; MUSIC SEQUENCE THIS CHAPTER! :D  
> As always, you are *not* required to time music to text, though it can be an amazing experience when it works.

A united Goa'uld fleet is assembled in orbit near a gas cloud and a rather large planet.   
  
Onboard the largest of Battleships lay a familiar design- one stolen straight from Anubis and now marked all over with BA'AL'S SIGIL.  
  
Sitting in the command room's thrones are QETESH- in her Artoria guise- and BA'AL- sitting, lounging back in a reclining pose, holding the metal skull that had once been the head of Anubis' BODYBOT. They sit in that order, Qetesh, then Ba'al on her left.  
  
He holds the Skull aloft, and laments aloud, **_"Alas, Poor Anubis!_ You thought you were the top dog, but even you could not outlast the real champion of the hour!" **  
  
Teal'c, and a small squadron of ELITE JAFFA, all wearing variations of KULL WARRIOR SUITS, and all emblazoned with Ba'als sigil, enter the room.  
  
Teal'c carries no weapon, and as he kneels before Ba'al, more Jaffa enter, dragging behind them a pair of hooded figures.  
  
"My Lord," Teal'c announces. "It is done."  
  
**"Well done, Teal'c,"** Ba'al smirks, getting up, and placing the skull down on the throne where his ass had just been resting and not back on its rightful place on a nearby display shelf that was also home to three Linking Books with static-glitched panels.   
  
"It is my honor to serve, Lord Ba'al," Teal'c says.  
  
**"Yes, yes,"** Ba'al smiles, patting the Jaffa on the shoulder. **"But generations from now they will speak of Master Teal'c, of Chulak. Former First Prime of Ba'al, and First Leader of the Free Jaffa Nation."**  
  
Teal'c nods in acknowledgement, and moves aside. "I present to you, the final vestiges of resistance."  
  
The hoods are yanked away, revealing a glowering Goa'uld named APOPHIS, and a sniveling, skinny, wimpy looking Cherub named Caliborn.  
  
_**"Shol'va!"** _Apophis spits at Teal'c, who takes the accusation of being a traitor without so much as flinching.  
  
**"Apophis, Last of the System Lords to stand against me,"** Ba'al begins. **"And Caliborn! The tiny tyke they called 'Lord English!' Hrm. I thought you'd be _Taller!"_**  
  
" **GO Fu** ~u _ck yourself!"_ Caliborn snarled, his voice squeaking hoarsely in the middle from no doubt a few solid hours straight up shouting, much to the Cherub's horror.  
  
**"Yes, I see you've chosen your last words properly,"** Ba'al says, un-amused. **"How about you, Apophis? Got any last words for your new sovereign?"**  
  
Apophis' eyes flash. **"May your reign last days, and your death, Years!"**  
  
Ba'al smiles. **"Ah, that's actually rather good, isn't it?"** He looks to Teal'c. **"What do you think? Should we engrave it on his tombstone?"**  
  
"Indeed," Teal'c agrees. "They are fitting last words."  
  
**"The only thing I have to ask, Apophis,"** Ba'al says, decaptchaloging a fucking one-handed great-sword made of a gleaming white metal that has Caliborn's eyes go wide with horror.  
  
_"no!"_ Caliborn's voice squeaks out. _"nooooo! how did you get that!?"_  
  
**"Now now, Calibrat, the adults are talking,"** Ba'al smirks. **"So, Apophis about that question. Did you plan to say that oh so witty one liner when you walked in?"**  
  
Apophis flares his eyes again, but says nothing in defiance.  
  
_**"Or..."**_ Ba'al flashes the sword with such a quick slash that it crosses the distance of two heads without much resistance.   
  
Both the heads of Apophis and Caliborn hit the floor, and roll with thunderous applause... or rather, they would if they were still in possession of hands.  
  
_**"Did you come up with that off the top of your head?"** _Ba'al concludes, flashing his own eyes in triumph. Then, he turns to Caliborn, sees him beheaded, and, in the most faux shocked tone of voice he can manage, **"Oh! I'm sorry, Calibrat! _I Totally Didn't Mean_ to get you caught up in that execution there! _I'm Real Sorry_ to chop all of your heads off at once, there. _Real Sorry_ about that."** He nudges the toppled head with his foot and laughs. He wasn't sorry at all.  
  
Ba'al takes his sword, and with a flick of his wrist, sends two hues of red blood splashing across the newly made corpses before he captchalogues the weapon CALEDFWICH into his Sylladex.  
  
Ba'al motions to a cleaning lady, **"Clean this up."** She moves to do such, and Ba'al goes to wash his hands.  
  
A control console beeps loudly, and Teal'c Reports: "My Lord, Cronus hails us."  
  
**"On Screen,"** Ba'al demands, drying his hands on an available towel.  
  
Cronus appears on screen. _**"Lord Ba'al,"** _the Goa'uld greets. **_"The Squadron of Al'kesh you ordered to the Tau'ri have reported back, and it is as you promised. They number in the billions, and they are defenseless."_**

 _ **"Excellent,"**_ Ba'al grins. **"You may reveal the coordinates to the rest of the fleet, and we will leave on my order."**

 _ **"As you wish,"**_ Cronus pauses. **"However, _I feel there is something else you should be aware of._ Something regarding Nirrti."**  
  
**"...What's that?"** Ba'al asks, a rare frown gracing his face.  
  
_**"Her host was spotted on Earth, along with the clone she made of your queen, Qetesh, by one of my Al'kesh,"** _Cronus reports, and he brings the image up on screen.  
  
Ba'al stares for several long moments, taking the image in.  
  
He sees Vala Mal Doran, holding an infant child, of course, and he sees a woman who conceivably COULD be his lost Heir... But the presence of Cameron Fucking Mitchel of SG-1, and the hardened look of steel within those green eyes gazing upwards at the Al'kesh tell Ba'al otherwise.  
  
Ba'al stands, dumbfounded for a moment.  
  
_'It has to be a coincidence,'_ he says to himself. _'That has to just be the local version of him. It can't be. It simply Can't Be that Cameron Mitchel and Mordred Pendragon SURVIVED and met up with Vala and Nirrti of all people!'_  
  
Ba'al composes himself. **"Yes, I believe you are right and that is them."** He considers his options. **"To think they would be hiding there... There is no telling what Nirrti has told the Tau'ri, or how prepared their defenses may really be."**  
  
_'Damn it,'_ he swore internally. _'If SG-1 survived and they have a working Stargate...'_  
  
No, he dared not finish that sentence.  
  
He dared not consider the fact that every now and then, a minor Goa'uld system lord's outposts had gone silent over the last six months.  
  
No. No No No. He would not, could not allow himself this moment of doubt.  
  
But damn it all. He had to act as if he had all the cards.   
  
**"We will begin the attack on my orders,"** Ba'al declares. **"Cronus, tell no-one of this discovery. I will send my elite to deal with it personally."**  
  
_**"As you wish,"**_ Cronus repeats, and then ends the transmission.  
  
**"Teal'c,"** Ba'al turns to the Jaffa. **"You may tell your warriors that their dream of freedom is another step closer."**  
  
Teal'c nods. "I shall, my lord."  
  
And thus, Ba'al strides over to Qetesh at the thrones. He picks up Anubis' robotic skull, and grimaces as he sits down- tossing the robot skull from hand to hand.  
  
**"What troubles you, my Love?"** Qetesh inquires, leaning in close and pressing her chest against his right arm. **"I am in awe of your accomplishments. You have predicted every move of your enemies and fulfilled every promise to your allies. Why does this one thing trouble you so? It's not because Nirrti got away, is it?"**  
  
**_"No,"_** Ba'al frowns. **"I recognized the man with her in that picture. Someone from long ago in my past who I thought dead."**  
  
**"Another Goa'uld?"** Qetesh asks.  
  
_**"Worse,"**_ Ba'al glares into Anubis' empty eyes. _'A time traveler.' **"An Ascended Being."**_  
  
**"I thought you wiped them all out with the Sangraal?"** Qetesh asks, frowning.  
  
**"As did I. There must have been some forewarning, somehow."** Ba'al normally loved the lies of his station, of his power, of his current rule... yet now the victory tasted bitter. Not even bitter-sweet. Just plain straight bitter. **"I know not how that man lives. But I must see him dead."**  
  
He summons for his elite guard.

* * *

The engine of a hot rod roars as the red and yellow-gold painted car bursts down a relatively abandoned section of highway interstate in the mountains going from Washington State to Colorado as fast as could be done.  
  
Mordred sits behind the wheel, gunning the car's top speed faster and faster.  
  
The pair of Military Jeeps escorting them on either side would give any idle Police Cruisers pause.  
  
Needless to say, Mitchel sat in the passenger seat, and leaned back to check on their stunned passengers.  
  
"How you doing back there?" He asks.  
  
"Could be better!?" Vala offers as she tries to keep the fussing two year old in the car seat next to her. "I mean, this whole day is just insane. It's not how I expected it to go at all."  
  
"Yeah, get used to that," Mitchel glances at their escorting vehicles. The drivers didn't care why there was a woman and a kid in addition to the two they were supposed to escort to Colorado, and that was a small, kind blessing in the chaos of the day.  
  
Mitchel was about to put his eyes back on the road when he caught sight of something in the side view mirror. He leaned forwards to get a better angle. "Uh oh."  
  
"What uhoh?" Mordred asked.  
  
"I think we got an Al'kesh on our tail," Mitchel replied.  
  
"Oh, Lovely!" Vala and Mordred exclaim at the same time.  
  
Mitchel goes for the radio. "Sierra Gulf Escort we've got an Al'kesh on our six! Be advised might be hostile!"  
  
_"Acknowledged, Sierra Gu-"_ The reply was cut short as a massive burst of fire hit one of the two escorting jeeps, blowing it sky high.  
  
_**"NEVERMIND!"** _Mitchel yells. _**"DEFINITELY HOSTILE!"**_  
  
"Gunning it!" Mordred pushes the gas harder, and the hot rod accelerates.  
  
_**PCHOOOWAAAAAM!**_  
  
The other escorting Jeep bites it, and the Al'Kesh swoops overhead, sending down several bombarding blasts on either side of the highway...  
  
And then two straight down in the middle of the highway far ahead of them.  
  
"What the fuck?" Mordred quickly swerves and breaks to a halt- the tires leave a long, nasty stretch of black along the road as the car comes to a complete halt just infront of a smoking crater. "What kind of aim is That!?"  
  
"The kind that implies a face to face confrontation," Mitchel says, decaptchaloging a pair of laser swords- one he hands to Mordred, the other he keeps firmly in hand.  
  
"Oh this is not good," Vala observes as the Al'kesh loops around for a landing on the ground on the open stretch of highway behind them.  
  
With the blasts along the sides and the crater they nearly avoided crashing into, they were now boxed in.  
  
"Oh, this is so not good," Vala mutters, peering out the window as a door opens, and two figures in Kull Warrior Armor stalk out- green sparks of electricity zaping across their forms. "I recognize that green sparking shit. It's the same stuff Khepri had Nirrti working on the Abydonians with."  
  
"Stay in the car with the kid, Vala," Mitchel orders, and he and Mordred exit the vehicle. "Howdy, Officers!" He greets. "What seems to be the problem?"  
  
One of the two figures taps their helmet- and it retracts, revealing the familiar face of SKAARA of ABYDOS.  
  
**"I am Klorel, Elite servant of Ba'al,"** he begins- eyes flashing gold and voice modulating. **"You have been ordered to be executed today on this spot by our Lord."**  
  
**"And I am Hecate, the same,"** the other figure taps back HER helmet, revealing the scowling face of SHA'RE- modified with WOLF EARS. **"You will hand over Nirrti and the Harcesis now, and we will make your deaths quick."**  
  
Then, together, they focus their green sparking energy into swords, made out of lightning.  
  
"Shit," Mordred growls. "This isn't good."  
  
"Yeah, well, I'm going to have to agree with you there and Disagree with them!" Mitchel ignites his laser sword- the beam a pleasant shade of blue. "We don't want to hurt you, but if you make us, we WILL cut off a few limbs here and there!"  
  
"Hell yeah we will," Mordred ignites his laser sword- a bright beam of fancy red ignites from it. "Oooh! Nice color choice, Cam!"  
  
"Thank you, Mo," Mitchel swings his sword into a defensive stance. "Now then! Skaara, Sha're... I really don't want to have to do this to you, but we will if we have to!"  
  
**"The hosts you refer to are no longer here,"** The Goa'uld within Sha're states. **"But so be it."**  
  
The wind blows between them- playing a desolate note across the ruined highway. A tumble weed blows around, despite this not being a desert area at all. 

[**A drum beat can be heard in the air**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFa1-kciCb4)\- at first assumed to be just the imaginations of those participating...  
  
Until a flute and harmonica picks in, playing the fucking _the Good the Bad and the Ugly theme song._  
  
All eyes turn towards the direction that it's coming from.

[0:10]  
  
"Oh what the...?" Vala stares on as she sees a trio of figures sort of... flickering into view as they slowly waltz into frame.  
  
A girl in a grey cloak, with a harmonica to her lips, and her green eyes glowing brightly- Artoria Gray.   
  
To Gray's right, an Alternian girl and scythe shaped orange horns, holding a scythe in hand- Rhubee Xaolon.   
  
To Gray's left, a Sea Dweller troll tapping out the drum beat against the side of her pink colored P-90- Kohiru Karren.   
  
[0:20]  
  
They stop to a halt on the edge of the nearest blast crater, and nobody says a word.   
  
Mitchel and Mordred can't help but grin as this two way standoff turns into a three way.  
  
**"What manner of foolishness is this?"** Klorel demands.   
  
Rhubee just smirks, saying nothing, and instead whistling.  
  
[0:26]  
  
**"Speak up! Stop playing that music right this instant!** " Hecate demands.  
  
Rhubee just whistles again.  
  
[0:34]  
  
The two Elite Goa'uld don't seem to understand what's going on, but their attention is firmly focused on the trio of definitely dimensionally displaced girls.  
  
"C'mon," Mitchel whispers. "Let's circle around and get to the Al'kesh."  
  
[0:40]  
  
"And steal their ride?" Mordred whispers in turn, then cracks a grin. "I like that plan."  
  
Vala starts to get herself and the kid out of the car.  
  
Gray's group has the same idea- beginning to circle to their left on time with the sudden intrusion of a guitar that can't be seen. Nobody pays the irregularity any mind.  
  
Klorel and Hecate similarly move to their left, and Mitchel and Mordred begin to move to their left as well, with Vala holding the kid hiding behind them.  
  
[0:55]  
  
From a high off vantage point, with a loud speaker pumping out prerecorded Guitar, Ruby Branwen sits with a Sniper Rifle pointed straight down at the encounter.  
  
Her finger taps idly against the finger guard around the trigger.  
  
[1:01]  
  
The three sets of forces rotate- Gray's group entering the highway even as Gray herself trades her harmonica for a short-spear and shield.   
  
Karren slowly raises her P-90 to a ready position.  
  
Klorel and Hecate flash their eyes with anger and annoyance, not realizing what's going on just yet.  
  
Mordred, Mitchel, and Vala keep their footsteps quiet as they continue to circle left.  
  
[1:11]  
  
The circling continues, with the tension of the encounter rising with each and every footstep.   
  
They circle. Hecate's eyes warily darting between the various groups.  
  
They circle. Gray keeping her eyes firmly locked on the two Goa'uld.  
  
They circle....  
  
[1:21]  
  
And then Mordred, Mitchel and Vala find themselves by the Al'kesh's entry hatch, Gray's group find themselves at the hot rod, and Klorel and Hecate find themselves on the other side of the crater that Gray's group had first appeared at.  
  
"Now then," Karren begins- speaking for the first time, and a crazy grin on her face as her P-90 is finally brought to eye level. "You might wanna put those helmets back on. I don't wanna put an eye out!"  
  
Hecate snarls, **"You _dare_ to threaten one of Lord Ba'al's elite!"**  
  
"Oh, we dare," Rhubee grins. "And we dare so much we dare you to come at us! Show Me What You Got!"  
  
**"Your weapons will do no good against our blades!"** Klorel points his glowing spark sword at them.  
  
"We'll see about that!" Gray says, her spear and shield glowing golden as she points them forwards at them.  
  
And then the trio of girls leap forwards and the two Goa'uld Elite agents similar hurl themselves into battle- the Goa'uld fail to raise their helmets.  
  
[1:40]  
  
Rhubee's scythe handle easily blocks Hecate's sword strikes- and Gray's shield similar deflects Klorel's.  
  
As those two pairs begin trading blows, Karren zips around the entire encounter- forming a little pink whirlwind around the battle and obscuring from sight the others as they break into the Al'kesh and make for the cockpit.  
  
There are some simple Jaffa left to guard the interior- but they're taken out by Zat shots and some laser sword strikes within quick order, and booted out the opened entry hatch without preamble or fuss.  
  
[1:50]  
  
"Alright, Vala, get this thing running and in the air!" Mitchel orders as he goes to find a weapons console. "I'll try and get weapons online!"  
  
"I've got the kid," Mordred says, taking the two year old from Vala as she moves for the cockpit.   
  
"Alright, now powering up Stolen Al'kesh Air," Vala remarks, sitting in the chair, and powering on the ship's systems. "Time to make this bird fly."  
  
[1:56]  
  
The battle breaks for a moment as the airlock doors slam shut, and Klorel notices. **"What-! _NO! OUR SHIP!"_**  
  
"HEY BUD!" Karren fires off a quick burst of ammo into his armor- stunning him and keeping him from leaving. "OUR FIGHT TAKES PRIORITY!"  
  
**"This is insane!"** Hecate growls. **"They're distracting us!"**  
  
With a flash of green, she leaps over the pink whirlwind into the air, trying to clear the distance towards the Al'kesh and put an end to-  
  
_**BWAM!!!**_  
  
A Sniper shot sends her flinging off course into the highway pavement- cracking and shattering it.  
  
Her eyes dart upwards in the direction of the shot-  
  
[2:10]  
  
Ruby reloads her Sniper- and declare- "NEXT!" She fires off another shot- _**BWAM!!!**_ -Forcing Hecate to dodge the strike aimed at her head.  
  
The Al'kesh rises into the air, and begins to circle the fight.   
  
"She figured it out!" Rhubee grinned.   
  
"We're the Distractions, Idiots!" Gray laughed.  
  
Klorel yells- only to get sprayed by another P-90 blast- forcing him to cover his head.  
  
[2:20]  
  
"What do we do about them?" Vala asks.  
  
Mitchel wants to order them to go around and ring them aboard- but as he gets a lock on the fight via the weapons array, he gets a camera lock on Gray's face, and she gives him a subtle "no" shake of the head.  
  
"Engage Cloak and get us the hell out of here!" Mitchel orders.  
  
[2:30]  
  
And with that decided, the Al'kesh cloaks, and the roar of its engines pierce through the air as it accelerates away, leaving the battle on the highway behind.  
  
Klorel and Hecate prepare their ultimate attacks to finish off the interlopers- but then Gray discards her cloak- her Bahro wings spreading wide and into the air- and with a Flap and a _ **VRRRMSSSH!**_  
  
All four girls and their equipment suddenly vanish from sight.  
  
Klorel and Hecate breathe for several moments as they recover from the incident that just transpired...  
  
And then Hecate asked... **"Did we just get stolen from... _While trying to murder and steal from them?_ "**  
  
**"A reverse theft as it were?"** Klorel mused. **"...Yes, I believe we did just have a reverse theft."**  
  
**"Is it weird that I feel almost happy it didn't become a reverse Murder as well?"** Hecate asks.  
  
**"Ba'al will be mad when he finds out we let them escape,"** Klorel mutters. Then... **"Let's pretend we did die and get out of here before the Tau'ri come to investigate."**  
  
**"Sounds good to me."**  
  
And then the two began to run away into the unknown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PAUSE FOR DIRECTORS NOTES:
> 
> Well, here's someone with a lot of free time on his hands. Ba'al has been VERY busy! Hunting Skulls, Plundering Tombs, Desecrating Urns, and the like. 
> 
> Ba'al also keeps his "off the top of his head" quip, which was honestly too good to not re-use from canon Continuum. It was just too Spades Slick of a line to not use. Speaking of a Spades Slick line, Ba'al paraphrases one of Slicks' RAPIER WIT MOMENTS.
> 
> Unseen off screen was that after Caliborn's body was dragged away, a small rift opened up, and his soul was swiftly plucked out of the timeline. Damara was in too much of a hurry at that point to take note of what was going on with the timeline itself. 
> 
> Ba'al gets the first hints that something is utterly WRONG with his timeline. That is to say, people are together who should not be together. 
> 
> \---
> 
> Waaa~aa~aaaaaah. Wa Wa Wa....
> 
> So. Uh. Elephant in the room. There wasn't originally going to be a music sequence in the middle of all of this. But then the tumble weed just blew by and I just KNEW WHAT HAD TO BE DONE.
> 
> Waaa~aa~aaaaaah. Wa Wa Wa???
> 
> ALSO, yeah. Skaara and Sha're. Now there's a shocker of a twist. There's no way them being left behind like that isn't going to have its side-effects on the timeline. No-Sir-Eee! Nope. None whatsoever.
> 
> Waaa~aa~aaaaaah. Wa wa wa Wa!
> 
> Gray's team shows up, and Ruby puts her Sniper Rifle skills to good use! How fun was that? XD
> 
> Waaa~aa~aaaaaah. Wa Wa Wa.
> 
> Next chapter: A6A5: ACT 6 ACT 1: Aftershocks.


	11. A6A5: ACT 6 ACT 1: Aftershocks.

A military truck arrived at Cheyenne Mountain Complex, and two long elevator rides later...  
  
Jonas Quinn and Cassandra Fraiser arrived on level 27, and were escorted to the briefing room.  
  
Despite the timeline changes, the only major differences to the base were countless changes to signage.   
  
It was a nostalgic, yet terrifying trip into the briefing room, yet one that was filled briefly with hope.  
  
The moment Jonas and Cassie saw the open window and the Stargate below in the room as it should have been, they ran up to it and gazed down, like seeing an old friend.  
  
"Don't get your hopes up too badly," Colonel O'neill says, walking up to them. "It's a replica."  
  
"A... A replica?" Cassie turns to look at him. "But why?"   
  
"Kinsey, duh," O'neill rolls his eyes. "We've caught more of his men trying to steal this fake than any of them have ever gotten close to at the real facility."  
  
"Smart move," Jonas says. "Damn, it's a good replica, though. Had me fooled."  
  
"Totally fake, though," O'neill shakes his head. "Good to see you two again, though."  
  
"Likewise," Cassie nods.   
  
"C'mon, let's walk and talk," O'neill says. "The President's waiting for us."  
  
He leads them through the familiar halls of the facility, talking about a few things here and there- namely their lives the past year.  
  
And then Jonas asks, "Have you heard from Mitchel and Mordred yet?"  
  
"We lost contact with their transport about an hour ago," O'neill explains. "Last word was than an Al'kesh was trailing them." A flash of panic goes through Cassies eyes, and he hastily adds, "But we haven't found any bodies yet, save the two escort trucks that got blown up, and a couple of stunned and cut up armored men I think you called Jaffa?"  
  
"What?" Jonas asks. "Not a single body except some knocked out Jaffa?"  
  
"Way I see it, Mordred and Mitchel probably took the opportunity to, ah, liberate a ship when it presented itself to them," O'neill shakes his head. "Man, I'm insanely jealous I didn't get to do it myself." He paused. "Though, one question."  
  
"Sure," Cassie nods.  
  
"Any idea why the hell they were escorting a woman with a two year old to Colorado for?" O'neill asks.  
  
Jonas and Cassie share a strange look.  
  
"Describe her?" Jonas asks.  
  
"Tall, dark hair, fair complexion, exotic facial structure, and had, and I quote one of the dead escorts, 'an extremely sexy voice.'"  
  
Cassie can't help but laugh, and Jonas shakes his head, answering, "It sounds like they found Vala, if that's who I think it is."  
  
"What luck!" O'neill says. "Now there's five of you, apparently!"  
  
"Who knows if she has her memory or not," Cassie smiles. "But it'll be good to see her again at some point."  
  
The three of them arrived in the PRESIDENT'S COMMAND CENTER within the mountain complex- President HENRY HAYES stands before a television on which an old recording of himself plays.  
  
There are a large number of military workers, many many more video screens, and one massive world map made in glass.  
  
The broadcast is stating _"There is no nation on this earth that does not share in our resolve to defend our world"_ as they arrive, with the real live President Hayes remarking, "Never thought we'd use this old thing."   
  
A familiar man- George Hammond- walks up to the President and reports, "There's been no response from any of the alien crafts, Sir. We've tried every known frequency and language there is."  
  
"George, Why come all this way from where-ever it is just to play tag with a Bunch of F-16s and sit on their asses for half a day?" Hayes asks.  
  
"That's because they're advance scout ships, Mister President," Jonas starts.  
  
The President and General Hammond turn towards the newcomers on the scene.  
  
"Jack! Great timing!" The President grins, he goes to shake Jonas and Cassie's hands. "I'm Henry Hayes. Thanks for coming!"  
  
"Well, we were coming before the Al'kesh thing happened anyways, so..." Jonas shrugs.   
  
"And speaking of, these, "Alqueech"?" Hayes asks.  
  
"Al'kesh," Cassandra corrects. "They're scouts and ground support bombers. And they're nothing compared to what's coming next."  
  
"And what's coming next?" Hayes asks.  
  
"Oh, Death, Slavery, more slavery, more death." Jonas says. "You know. The usual."  
  
O'neill smirks.   
  
"Look, if you want to say 'I told you so,' go right ahead and get it off your chests," Hayes smiles, apologetically.  
  
"We told you so!" Cassie says. "Can we go save the world now?"  
  
"And how do you propose you go about doing that?" Hayes asks.  
  
"Well, that all depends on the Real Stargate," Jonas says. "Going by the convincing fake out there, I'd say you found the real thing?"  
  
"Antarctica, yes," Hayes nods. "We've got the Navy operating out of McMurdo Base with it. We've gotten it mostly working, baring a few... glitches."  
  
"Glitches?" Cassie asks.  
  
"The damned thing won't stay open for longer than five minutes," Hayes explains. "We've sent a few exploratory teams through to coordinates you suggested, but most of the worlds have been either destroyed by some unknown force of nature, or were very heavily fortified military installations. Our men have managed to pass themselves off as simple travelers, in those cases. We're not announcing to the Galaxy that we're here until we're good and ready. And you two aren't going to undo the timeline to fix this just yet."  
  
"So... why are we here then?" Cassie asks, scowling.  
  
Hayes begins, "When I was first briefed on you three, I thought my Chief of Staff was yanking my chain. I didn't believe him the second time, either. Finally, he had to bring in the National Security Advisor to convince me that he wasn't kidding. On page two thousand and something of the brief, one of you, I can't remember which, talks about how I handled a similar invasion in your timeline to the one that might happen here."  
  
"The Ancient Weapons Outpost," Jonas nods. "Right. That should still be there, shouldn't it?"  
  
"Under a mile of ice and with a dead battery," Cassie shakes her head. "Even if you got through the ice, we'd need a full charge ZPM to get it working."  
  
"Taonas," Jonas says. "It should still be there, right?"  
  
"Sure, but we'd need that Al'kesh that Mitchel and Mordred stole to get there, and even then, there's no telling how much time we have before the whole fleet gets here," Cassie says.  
  
"Well, we don't have to fly back," Jonas says. "Not all the way. There'd be a Gate we could dial from since it's still down in Antarctica. So all we'd need is-"  
  
"Someone with the gene that could operate the chair, yes," Cassie glances at O'neill. "We could pull it off if we can get in contact with Mitchel and Mordred."  
  
"That's if they even have the Al'kesh we think they do, though," O'neill says.   
  
"Good," Hayes motions. "George! What's our status on getting that stolen Al'kesh confirmed?"  
  
General Hammond walks over, and Cassie stares in surprise. Jonas just smiles warmly.  
  
"Sir!" Cassie grins. "It's good to see you."  
  
Hammond blinks. "Uh. If you say so?" He doesn't recognize them, but he turns to Hayes and says. "We have four F-15s on the tarmac, each carrying minimal armaments and extra fuel tanks, ready to go as escort and or intercept where-ever the suspected stolen ship is."  
  
"Once you've got this ship," Hayes says to SG-1, "you'll be escorted by a squad of four marines. That's non negotiable."  
  
"To keep us on mission," Jonas rolls his eyes.  
  
"It's not necessary, but we'll take the back-up, Sir," Cassie says. "But, Even if everything goes according to plan, it'll be a couple of days until we get back. What are you going to do if Ba'al shows up before then?"  
  
"Is there anything we can do, Miss Fraiser?" Hayes asks.   
  
"Uh... Don't mention us?" she offers.  
  
"Thought of that one," Hayes looks to O'neill. "Good luck."  
  


* * *

  
  
"Oh, that's a lot of ships exiting Hyperspace," your name is Cameron Mitchel, and you stare out the Al'kesh's window as Goa'uld ship after Goa'uld ship exit hyperspace around the Earth inside of the moon's orbit. You're counting atleast a dozen so far, and that number is only growing.  
  
"Okay, so..." Mordred frowns. "What do we do?"  
  
"We gotta pick up Cassie and Jonas," you figure is the best bet. "We go touch down at the SGC like they requested we meet there and get them, and it doesn't matter what plan they want us to do, we go to hyperspace and find the nearest Stargate so we can set things right."  
  
"Might want to hold that thought," Vala says. "Earth's hailing all frequencies again. Let's see now..."  
  
She plays the audio feed.  
  
You hear Jack O'neill's voice speaking up.  
  
 _"To the alien ships in orbit illegally double parking and stealing all the prime real-estate up there, just now? Could you please stop and maybe we'll talk about this some? Maybe some nice, simple, Penny sandwiches? Camelot Tea? Some sugary snacks? We're willing to talk. Just... you know. Send an envoy or something to Denver International Airport, Port 0314? We won't bite."_  
  
"Well, that's obviously meant for us," Mordred says.   
  
"Yeah, and I get what frequency they want us to reply on. They won't actually have us physically go there," you say. "We can radio back without our cloak being noticed, right?"  
  
"Yeah," Vala nods. "Just give me a frequency."  
  
You rattle off a radio frequency, and give the port number O'neill offered.   
  
Thus patched in, you radio, "Colonel O'neill, this is Cam Mitchel. What's the situation?"  
  
It doesn't take long for the conversation to give you a plan. You get coordinates to fly to intercept a set of F-16s, and then from there go into space to go to Praclarush Taonas for a ZPM...  
  
It feels a bit too easy, but what the hell, might as well roll with it.  
  
Course laid in, Vala begins diverting the Al'Kesh to the right place.  
  
"Be warned, Colonel," you add in. "Ba'al's fleet is assembling pretty fast. We might not have an Earth to return to even if we do get the ZPM."  
  
There's a pause.  
  
Then, O'neill answers:  
  
 _"President Hayes says that if the Earth is in a destroyed state by the time you retrieve the ZPM, then you are cleared for time travel."_  
  
Well. You look to Mordred, who shrugs. That was easy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DIRECTORS COMMENTARY:
> 
> Not much to say this chapter. It's pretty self explanatory.  
> Faux SGC? Check!  
> Hammond Cameo! Check!  
> Coded Message to get info to Mitchel and crew? Check!
> 
> We're accelerating towards the conclusion of this act now!
> 
> Next Chapter: A6A5: INTERMISSION: Family History


	12. A6A5: INTERMISSION: Family History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whats this? Another Bonus Chapter? Yeah. That's right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, this chapter may be intense for some viewers. The Goa'uld start their orbital bombardment strikes.

Artoria Gray watched from the shadows of a rain-protecting awning as two teenagers met in the cascading storm around them.  
  
Polly Paldoran and Joe Langford.   
  
A blonde girl who looked so much like Artoria and Mordred it could've been considered Actor Reuse on television. And as for Joe? While Gray had only briefly met the woman a few times, there was a strong, if slightly dilluted, family resemblance to Joey Claire. The same green glint to the eyes, the same dark brown hair. Only skin tone was off- a pale human tone instead of the rich grays of an Alternian complexion.   
  
Gray looked at her own gloved hand for a moment, and peeled the cloth back to examine the skin tone of her hand more closely.   
  
So, it seemed that was where her own pale complexion came from, rather than the presumed D'ni blood most people who saw her assumed it hailed from. From the Langford family, and further, the Harley family, distantly, in its own way.  
  
In a strange, strange, strange twist of time and fate, Gray realized she was a distant descendant of Jake Harley- far more distant than Joey or Jude. They, who were physically less to her in age back in the home timeline, were so very, very ancient when compared to Blood Lines.   
  
This first meeting went well. Joe offering Polly an umbrella. A giggle, a smile...  
  
And the set of wheels in motion.  
  
Gray sighed, and departed with a Link back along the line where she'd left the others after their latest stunt to ensure her own birth went as planned.  
  
A flap of wings, and a VRRRMMMSHH! had only Joe glancing in the direction of that awning for a moment, but he saw nothing out of place.  
  
Nothing save an abandoned glove lying in a puddle.  
  


* * *

  
Gray appeared in K'veer- years in the 'past' from the main timeline's perspective, but what constituted as fairly modern by this timeline's standards- and moved silently towards the long dormant Keep.  
  
The shattering of the Timeline had caused the bubble to fail, and the Tablet itself to evaporate. Still, it's presence was a rare fixed point in this damaged, decaying timeline.  
  
A perfect nexus point to use as safe harbor.  
  
Ruby was maintaining her sniper rifle- stolen from a gun store in some military base- while Rhubee sharpened the edge of her scythe blade. Nearby, Karren sat, meditative, before her disassembled P-90.  
  
"Welcome back, Gray," Ruby glanced up from her work. "How'd it go?"  
  
"All went well," Gray says. "Observing that point stabilized my timeline more." She held up her non-gloved hand. "See? My hand's not see through anymore."  
  
"That's great," Ruby smiled. "So... SG-1's got the Al'kesh and they're reuniting to go set things right, right? That's... basically it, isn't it? We don't have anything else to do but keep observing and stabilizing time until it gets fixed, right?"  
  
Gray considered her memories- somewhat more coherent than they had been back when this mess had started, but still jumbled.  
  
Yeesha... Yeesha had said something hadn't she? About an observed future diverted?   
  
"I think there's one last thing," Gray said. "I need to find Yeesha."  
  
"Considering Linking books don't work in this timeline, and the last anyone from Catherine had seen, she'd gone into D'ni's caverns before even the turn of the century?" Rhubee speaks up, finishing her sharpening. "There's no telling where she is."  
  
"No, I know where she is," Gray says. "Rather... I know where she's going to be."  
  
Karren suddenly snapped out of her meditation, and began snap-assembling her P-90.  
  
"And where's that?" Rhubee asks.  
  
"She told me... Not too long ago?" Gray frowned. "Yes. I think it was just after Joey completed The Quest. Yeesha told me, about a time she experimented with Time Travel and wound up in the distant future- a doomed future. She described fire raining from the sky, ships of alien design blasting buildings and streets to pieces... I think it's this timeline."  
  
"Sooo... what do?" Ruby asks.  
  
"I need to hide away when I find her, let her see what she needs to see... and then banish her back to the time she belongs to without her realizing," Gray exhaled. "I don't think she knew I was involved when she told me. But if every type of Linking except for mine doesn't work in this time, then... then I have to be the one to send her back."  
  


* * *

  
  
Gray waited. Flickering between times as she stood in New York Times Square.  
  
Minute, minute, minute. Zip. Zip. Zip. Zip.  
  
Nobody paid her much mind.  
  
Finally, though... Gray saw Yeesha appear suddenly- much as she must have seemed to appear some days- on the other side of the Square- beyond the constant stream of rushing cars.  
  
The woman was confused, startled... and So, So, So Very Young.   
  
She looked around, before her eyes locked on a Television, broadcasting the news about the invasion.  
  
A fleet of Goa'uld ships, assembling in orbit. The attempts by the Governments of the world to talk, to negotiate... all failed. Images of a blown up highway appeared, along with an abandoned car. Gray smiled, seeing her work having persisted.   
  
And then the news changed- breaking news. The Alien Ships had begun opening fire on London and Paris.   
  
Gray began to walk for the crosswalk.  
  
Next, now, Berlin, Moscow, similarly being targeted by fire from above. Standard Goa'uld tactic. Go for the Major settlements first, then the secondaries, and progressively smaller.  
  
Traffic ground to a halt- all eyes gazing at the screens showing the raining destruction striking the world. Sirens for Natural Disasters began to wail across the city.  
  
Japan was being hit now- Tokyo, Kyushu, Akihabara- then Australia and New Zealand- Hong Kong and massive swaths of China.  
  
The attack was progressing Eastward- traveling in the opposite direction of the Sun.  
  
Alaska now. Vancouver. Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Seattle- Gray crossed the street through the frozen traffic, and began making her way to Yeesha through the terror frozen crowds.  
  
Las Vegas was hit. Salt Lake City, and- for some unknowable reason- large pieces of the New Mexico Desert- surely uninhabited.   
  
Yeesha looked shocked at that one, hands raising to cover her mouth as she realized Ba'al must be trying to hit the Cavern of D'ni. Surely, she thought about the people of Catherine, left to fend for themselves.  
  
Gray began to raise her hand as Denver was struck- and so too was a mountain in Colorado Springs- the attack was progressing rapidly across the continental US now, mere seconds after it had begun.  
  
Texas was set on fire. Kansas was being razed. Michigan was fractured into even smaller pieces. Ohio was wasted.   
  
Closest to home now, Boston was struck.  
  
Gray had only moments to strike.  
  
Yeesha fell to her knees, hands going to her ears, trying to drown out the noise as the whole of New York began to scream- the sky was glowing orange and yellow with thousands of glowing stars of meteoric doom.  
  
The last the news tower reported was that Washington D.C. had been struck before the transmission went out when the local news station delivering this story was hit.  
  
Already, she could hear the distant booms of buildings and ground being struck. _**WAAWAAA**_ **OOOMMM** _ **. WAAWAAA**_ **OOOMM.**  
  
Yeesha cried out- wishing desperately to wake up from this nightmare and Link BACK to the Past.  
  
Gray's hand brushed Yeesha's back, mere moments before a Hatak's high orbit fire struck Times Square and filled everywhere with deadly orange-yellow light and a flash of searing heat.  
  


* * *

  
  
Yeesha stumbled back into the timeline where she belonged- back in the Cleft by the Volcano. Back, oh so many years into the past.  
  
Gray could see it clear as day before that window was closed to her- another of the final threads holding this timeline together snapping apart.   
  
Gray knew that Yeesha would soon go speak to Waver about what she'd seen.   
  
They would wonder how to prevent it...  
  
But there was no preventing this that they could do from their end... and their work to do such had already nearly all been used up already.   
  
Gray found herself flickering into reality in the back of the Al'kesh that Mitchel and Mordred and Vala had stolen, and she couldn't help but smile as Mordred and Mitchel just sat in a corner, holding each other as they waited to arrive at their destination.  
  
Her paternal great grandfathers were both right there, waiting for the destruction she had just witnessed, and was just oh so shortly destined to transpire.  
  
Mordred looked up, and saw her. His mouth opened- his eyes widened- and Gray flickered away, back to her team.  
  
 ** _VRRRRMMMSSSHHHHSsshshhhh..._**  
  
She stumbled back into K'veer- clothes singed and hair smoking. Karren caught her before she hit the floor, crying out for the Rubys to fetch one of the pilfered med kits.  
  
Gray stared at her non-gloved hand- singed and brunt- but oh so very solid.  
  
And she smiled.  
  
"Soon," she whispered, "it'll all be over soon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMMENTARY DIRECTOR'S FOR PAUSE:
> 
> Did some math, and the Schedule works out best if I give a bonus chapter this week and another bonus chapter next week to round out the Act. We're almost at the end of this wild alternate timeline ride now. 
> 
> We finally find out this chapter just what horrible future Yeesha saw. You can pretty much figure out why she was disturbed by it just by reading it. Good thing Gray got her out of there when she did. That was cutting it pretty close!!
> 
> And as you might suspect... Yeah. The orbital strikes are going to start *before* SG-1 even gets a chance to leave. The Praclarush Taonas Mission is pretty clearly a bust before it even gets started. 
> 
> NEXT CHAPTER: A6A5: ACT 6 ACT 2: Orbital Bombardment


	13. A6A5: ACT 6 ACT 2: Orbital Bombardment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: Sorry for the double post. AO3 glitched up when I was posting.

**"And here it is, my fellow System Lords. This tiny world in the middle of nowhere, lost and forgotten... It is now ours to enslave and pillage as we wish, thanks to our Lord Ba'al."** Qetesh smiled.  
  
 **"It is an abomination that they have been allowed to breed so high,"** Camulus remarked.  
  
Ba'al's face held a mask of confidence as the Gathered System Lords stared out the window towards Earth Below, and he replied. **"Oh, Yes, a shame that. But a side-effect of their Stargate being buried for centuries before being lost in _a terrible, horrible, and so very unfortunate boating accident_."**  
  
Inwardly, however, his mind was a whirl of chaos, as a single radio transmission repeated in his mind.  
  
 _"To the alien ships in orbit illegally double parking and stealing all the prime real-estate up there, just now? Could you please stop and maybe we'll talk about this some? Maybe some nice, simple, Penny sandwiches? Camelot Tea? Some sugary snacks? We're willing to talk. Just... you know. Send an envoy or something to Denver International Airport, Port 0314? We won't bite."_  
  
O'NEILL.  
  
Out of everyone to survive a timeline shift, he was still alive too?  
  
Damn it all.  
  
DAMN IT ALL.  
  
And they KNEW what he'd done. What else was there to explain the code words of "Penny" and "Camelot"?  
  
"Camelot" was self explanatory- they must know what he did with Artoria. Nirrti must have flipped. Even with the possibility that the damnable lookalike he'd seen was Mordred and not the Harcesis Heir he'd had stolen from him.  
  
As for "Penny," well... damn it all that had to reference Jude and Cassandra's daughter. It was all meant to taunt him. And using O'neill to do it when all the previous messages had been other people...  
  
Damn it all.  
  
 **"Never the less, they are far too many to control easily,"** Camulus says.  
  
 **"We will just have to blast them to the brink of extinction, then,"** Qetesh begins.  
  
...Klorel and Hecate had yet to return. It was likely they were dead.   
  
Ba'al couldn't care less, save that those two had been his best card to play in case of wayward time travelers.  
  
 _ **"No,"**_ Ba'al said. **"That won't be necessary. We will target their heavy military fortifications, as well as major capitals. If we wipe them out so heavily, they will resent us. Resentment breeds Rebellion. No, wiping them out to such numbers will make the survivors come after us doggedly. But if we offer them something different... something... Grander. Capture their hopes and dreams..."**  
  
"As you have done with your Jaffa?" Camulus asks.  
  
 **"If by that you mean the Jaffa who, with the promise of freedom, managed to defeat the combined armies of the System Lords? Yes,"** Ba'al states it with simple dedication- to the point of rehearsal. **"Ra and Khepri bred into our system such weaknesses. Within hours of her murder of him, there was Rebellion. She took his throne and weakened us. Weakened our resolve and our strength... And pressured millions into slavery and servitude. The Jaffa will have their freedom, as promised. But we must not repeat that mistake to prove to these people we are their betters."**  
  
Ba'al stood, smirking triumphantly as he finalized the fleet movements for their mission, but inwardly...  
  
Inwardly he KNEW. He knew something was going to go wrong. He'd seen FAR too many members of SG-1 today outside of his control for him to be confident in a flawless victory. And even Teal'c's co-operation hinged on Ba'al's continued survival. 

Were he to die today in some way...  
  
He looked to Teal'c.   
  
Final Orders are Final Orders, after all.  
  
 **"Now,"** Ba'al began, lecturing. **"Let us be clear, my friends. This planet holds many resources. Resources I've found that Khepri was hoarding for herself. She allowed these Tau'ri to breed out of control, because she feared them. She feared what they could do."**  
  
He worked his hands for a moment, itching for the console he had just finished.   
  
**"We need to instill in them the fear that we could, should we so choose, wipe them all out without a second thought, and that it is only our good graces and our generous willpower that leaves them alive with their lives otherwise intact. We take out their militaries, and their capitals. A light razing. A systematic razing. From the kingdom of England eastward to the edges of the United States. We will show to them what we can do, what our power demonstrates... and we will then message them with our offer of surrender."**  
  
Ba'al glanced at the decorative skull of Anubis... as well as the recently cleaned CHERUB SKULL resting next to it. The damned thing was even more snake like without any of the flesh that gave it a vaguely humanoid skull appearance normally.   
  
Both of those empty eyes gazed at Ba'al, taunting him, daring him to remember the prophecy he'd been given by Damara.  
  
For a moment, Ba'al doubted. Was all of this effort for naught? Had he wasted his time all this time to get to this point?  
  
...  
  
...  
  
...  
  
...  
  
No. Ba'al decided. It had not been a waste of time. But it never hurt to be prepared.  
  
 **"And after all... our message will be that of removing the puppets that Khepri left behind to rule their world from the shadows, preparing to strike out at her betters,"** Ba'al said. **"We will conquer them by saving them from the enemy they knew not."**  
  
Without preamble, he ordered the fleet to strike Earth the moment the other Goa'uld had returned to their ships. And then he dismissed them.  
  
The PLAN was READY.... But backup plans were always necessary.  
  
Ba'al waited for all save Teal'c to leave, and then made the order. **"I need you to search the planet for enough Naquadria to constitute a Stargate. In accordance with the Final Orders, I believe there to be two. One should be on the southern continent, but there may be another. If there are more than two, destroy the southern most one, and leave one of the others intact. Should I fall here today from betrayal, Use It to execute Plan 42."**  
  
"Yes, my Lord," Teal'c nods.  
  


* * *

  
  
The Al'kesh found the place the F-16s with SG-1 onboard had landed- an isolated place out in the middle of the New Mexico Desert.  
  
The crew had left the planes, and SG-1... Jonas, Cassie... And Jack and Sam and Daniel stood there together along with--   
  
Mitchel had to do a double take, because he almost didn't recognize him.  
  
It was fucking Davis Strider standing there- sans shades.   
  
And, per Jonas and Cassie's orders, the group of six were standing together, bunched into a circle.  
  
"Bring us over them so we can ring them onboard," Mitchel ordered.  
  
"Got it," Vala nodded.  
  
The Al'kesh moved into position, and Mordred punched in the Ring Commands.  
  
 _ **SKREEEEEEE!!!!**_  
  
 **VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM!**  
  
 _ **VAROOOOOOOOOOSH!**_  
  
 **VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM!**  
  
 _ **SNICHKT!**_  
  
"Woah!" O'neill exclaimed, waving his rifle around in surprise. "That's Freaky!"  
  
"Mordred!" Cassie ran over and hugged the man.  
  
"Hey, Cass!" he hugged her back. "Jonas! C'mmer you!"  
  
Jonas went over and hugged him too.  
  
"Good to see you."  
  
"Same here!"  
  
You go over and join the festivities. "Sup, guys?"  
  
"You went and stole an Al'kesh without us?" O'neill asks, even as Sam gazes around in awe of just the Ring Room. "I'm insulted!"  
  
"It was a spur of the moment thing," Mitchel answered. "We... Ah. Ran into Skaara and Sha're's body jackers."  
  
"Oh, god," Jonas chokes, glancing over at Daniel, who seems utterly fascinated with some decorative Goa'uld script on one of the walls. "Did--?"  
  
"Don't know what happened after we absconded," Mordred shakes his head. "Gray and her crew were distracting them."  
  
"...I'm sorry, did you just say Gray?" Jonas asks. "She really showed up?"  
  
"In the flesh," Mitchel nods. "Along with Rhubee and Karren, to the tune of the Good The Bad and The Ugly."  
  
"...Seriously?" O'neill asks. "Who does That?"  
  
"Some Time Displaced Alternians seeking to serve as a distraction?" Mordred shrugs. "No idea how they even got there, but I think Lieutenant Branwen was with them too, going by those random sniper shots."  
  
"Well, that's something else," Cassie says.   
  
There's a cough, and everyone glaces at Davis Strider.  
  
"Hi," he waves his hand, curtly. "Major Paul Davis. I don't think we've met?"  
  
...Or Not. you guess he changed his name in this timeline.  
  
"Oh, we have, Strider," you say. "Trust me, we've met."  
  
"How the-" He blinks. "No. Wait. The me of your timeline never changed his name?"  
  
"Nope," you answer.  
  
"Huh," The still Major blinked. "That's... weird."  
  
"Not the weirdest, though," Mitchel says.  
  
"Uh! Guys!" Vala calls out. "We got to get moving! The fleet just opened fire on the planet."  
  
"Yeah! Let's get out of here!" O'neill orders.  
  


* * *

  
  
The Cloaked Al'kesh tears away from its place just before surface-to-air fire starts striking the ground in the distance, growing closer to where the pick up was meant to happen.  
  
Soon, those poor F-16s were but molten scrap in a crater.  
  


* * *

  
  
"Eeesh, they didn't waste time," Carter grimaces as the Al'kesh evades the fire from high orbit.  
  
All of SG-1 is gathered on the Al'kesh's bridge, Cassie has taken to holding the fussing two year old boy for the time being.  
  
"No, they did not," Vala grimaces as well. "I'm reading orbital strikes all across the planet. Major City Centers and random ass locations like out here in the middle of nowhere."  
  
"Where else is middle of nowhere?" Cassie asks.  
  
"Only THE Most Southern, Most Coldest, and Most Isolated and Uninhabited Continent, Antarctica," Vala answers.  
  
"Shit," Mitchel swears. "You don't think Ba'al-?"  
  
"Went after the Ancient Weapons Platform?" Cassie nods. "Yeah, that's pretty damned likely."  
  
"Probably took out the Stargate too," O'neill grimaces.  
  
"Any word on the usual channel for us?" Mitchel asks.  
  
"No, it's gone dead," Vala shakes her head. "All we're getting is static for the moment."  
  
"Okay, so... Praclarush is probably a bust," Jonas summarizes. "What now?"  
  
"I'd say this counts as Scorched Earth," Mordred says, gazing at the rain of fire obliterating a city in the far distance.  
  
"Yeah," O'neill says. "I'd agree. So... That's the question now, isn't it?"  
  
"What **_Exactly_** do we do to fix this?" Mitchel concludes.  
  
"Indeed," Cassie agrees, and silence falls among the group for a long moment, before they break it to discuss their options.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PAUSE FOR DIRECTORS COMM:
> 
> Ba'al considers everything he has to do with little to no self reflection at all. 
> 
> The orbital bombardment begins, taking out the Antarctic Stargate before it can be used for anything. 
> 
> And SG-1 all aboard the Al'kesh, plus a wild Strider! 
> 
> Not much to say here. we're about to enter the final push of this Movie/Act. It's all down hill from here.
> 
> It's a fill in the blanks Puzzle! 
> 
> Next Chapter: A6A5: ACT 6 ACT 3: _____ ____ Sudden but Inevitable ________.


	14. A6A5: ACT 6 ACT 3: Sudden but Inevitable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the unpredictable happens.... Oh who am I kidding, you all knew this was coming eventually, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: A Ba'al gets popped.

The Time Tailor, STITCH, personal CLOTHING WORKER for the once-and-always mighty LORD ENGLISH, worked furiously on the rips and tears in the Cairo Overcoat.  
  
He had returned from a mission to find the coat in tatters. Both the main coat and its BACKUP were in shambles.   
  
The FABRIC OF SPACE TIME had been ripped asunder by an unknown force of terrifying time traveling individual severing a MASSIVE LOCK of time loops.  
  
His patch work was going to frame in time back into the right course of actions, but it would- ironically- take the timeline progressing naturally to stitch things back into place right and having those time loops happen in the first place just to MEND this damage.  
  
There were bound to be hiccups and mistakes. Time itself might iterate a few dozen times- only English knew how many alternate dimensions were going to spawn from this and-  
  
OH. LOVELY. Now some stupid silver rip had opened up and was bleeding out energy all over the place!  
  
Great! Just GREAT!  
  
Stitch scowled, peering into the rift and saw...   
  
What the hell? Was that Damara fighting with some Corpse possessed by a Cherubic Ghost?  
  
Stitch placed a patch over that section of the Coat's thread timeline and ignored it, because clearly that was a thing that shouldn't be happening in any timeline at all.  
  
Damned tears....  
  


* * *

  
  
"They stopped firing," Vala reports.  
  
"That oughtta give us some more time to figure out what the hell we're doing then," Mitchel says.   
  


* * *

  
  
Qetesh raised an eyebrow as a Jaffa brought a box to Ba'al.  
  
As Ba'al opened it and removed a Satellite Phone, she finally brought up the courage to ask- **"Ba'al, my love?"**  
  
 **"Yes, Qetesh?"** Ba'al asked.  
  
 **"How..."** she paused. **"How exactly did you find out about Earth before you recovered its location from Khepri's archives, again?"**  
  
 **"A Stone Tablet fell into my possession, containing a Gate Address- non functional at the time, but idle curiosity had me try it,** " Ba'al said, not entirely lying. **"Again and again I had it tested- its coordinates figured out... And then, I found Earth. I found their Gate on a Boat that was sinking rapidly, and I escaped. Years later, I returned via ship, and found your host."**  
  
 **"And you never thought to return to it sooner?"** Qetesh asked.  
  
Ba'al eyed her, his suspicions flaring internally, but outwardly... he was quite composed. **"You know quite well that we had neither the resources nor stable backing to perform such a feat, my dear."**  
  
 **"Yes, I suppose we did need to garner the support of the other System Lords, didn't we?"** Qetesh mused. **"Very well. Make your call."**  
  
Ba'al powered on the satellite phone, and dialed a number.  
  


* * *

  
  
"What do you mean," President Henry Hayes asked from within the darkened generals office of what should have been the SGC, _"He's On The Phone?"_  
  


* * *

  
  
"Hold on," Cassie re-reads an instrument on the Al'kesh's dashboard holograms. "I've got one of the fleet's Al'kesh scanning the planet. They're being passive about it- we wouldn't have picked it up if we hadn't just passed under the scanning beam... but... this Al'kesh says that the other one is using the scanning frequency for a Stargate's worth of Naquadah."  
  
"They blew up Antarctica," Mitchel frowns. "Why would they be doing that for?"  
  
"The Giza Gate," Jonas realizes. "Start a scan of our own."  
  
"Scanning," Cassie triggers a scan of their own.  
  


* * *

  
  
The camera cuts between their respective locations as they talk.  
  
 _ **"Mister President,"**_ Ba'al smirked. **"I was beginning to think I wasn't going to get through to you after I eradicated the corrupt cabinet poised to destroy you."**  
  
"You can cut the crap," Hayes replied. "'Ba'al', wasn't it?"  
  
 **"Yes, that is me indeed,"** Ba'al chuckled, beginning to pace the room. He paid Qetesh no mind as she messed with her own Sylladex- stripping out of her current formal robes with but a few well placed sylladex motions and standing nude behind him with a strange look in her eyes. **"You'll have to forgive me for the earlier bombardment. But you see, a dastardly enemy of ours- a woman named Khepri- began planting every single person in a governing body with spies, and brainwashing, designing to make them her agents who would turn Earth over to her the moment she deemed fit."**  
  
"Really, is that so?" Hayes asked, glancing at a mission report. "Because the way I hear it, you're something of a lying, cheating bastard who'll backstab whoever he can get away with cheating."  
  
 **"Now who would be telling you that?"** Ba'al asked. Behind him Qetesh dressed in royal armor of blues and silver- a sword appeared at her side with a subtle pop of her Sylladex releasing it. **"Don't tell me it's a little woman named Vala Mal Doran?"**  
  
"Can't say I've heard of that name," Hayes lies. "But a little bird DID tell me about your penchant for backstabbing _even your own clones."_  
  
Ba'al's eyes widened. **"I see. Let me guess. A man named Cameron Mitchel?"** Qetesh drew her sword.  
  
"No, no, it was someone who, damnedest thing, looked like a dead celebrity of ours!" Hayes continued. "I think she said her name was..." He looked at a specific mission report, and quoted a Name that he'd been told would really piss Ba'al off and should not mention it. Screw it, though, Hayes had nothing left to loose. _"Damara Megido?"_  
  
 _ **"What?"** _Ba'al never got another word out along that line of inquiry- because Qetesh's long sword suddenly explodes through his chest- pierced through from the back.   
  
Qetesh whispers to Ba'al, her voice not using its echo, oddly, _"Hang up on the nice President, My Love."_  
  
 **"M...Mister President,"** Ba'al gruffly, and rather obviously painfully, did as he was told. **"I'm af-fraid I'll... have to call you back. NGh-"** And then he drops the phone to the floor, where it shatters.  
  
Hayes glances at his phone, and then looks up to the aide who had told him of the call, and says, astonished, _"He hung up on me!"_  
  


* * *

  
  
 **"Qetesh.... why?"** Ba'al asked.  
  
"Because, 'Dear,'" Qetesh's voice continued without the echo, meaning something was very off, "Qetesh grew complacent, relishing in my own pleasure. So complacent I was able to squash her flatter than she ever dared squash me."  
  
 _ **"Ah,"**_ Ba'al gasped, pain and comprehension blooming within his chest. **_"I see._ Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal, Artoria Pendragon."**  
  
"Now then," Artoria Pendragon said, "Tell me everything about your backup plans."  
  
 **"I... Don't really think I shall, actually,"** Ba'al said. **"I'm _pretty sure_ that's not my fate."**  
  
She raised her hand device up to his head, and said, "Actually, I'm pretty sure it is."  
  
And then her voice had the echo again as the Hand Device began to pulse energy against Ba'al's skull.  
  
 _ **"NOW. TALK!"**_  
  


* * *

  
  
Your name is TEAL'C, and it is to no surprise that as you enter your Lord's quarters, that you find him in the precarious position of being presently impaled through the back with what is very obviously a SHIKRA BLADE- whose edges are known to be honed to the thickness of ATOMS- by Qetesh who has her hand device up to your Lord's head. She's quite obviously been using it on him, possibly to tear free sensitive information from him.  
  
...And while you're not normally going to judge if this is their special way of being romantic... You DO have to at least confirm that's what's going on and not something more nefarious.  
  
"My Lord," you report. "Pardon the intrusion of your private time."  
  
Ba'al gives you a look that's hard to describe, **"Oh, Gee, think nothing of it, Teal'c. What is there to report?"**  
  
"I have word on the Order you commanded," you state. "The mineral deposits you requested I search for are present. This planet is rich with Naquadah."  
  
 **"Lovely,"** Ba'al nods. **_"Execute That Order."_**  
  
 _ **"Belay that!"**_ Qetesh says. ** _"Stay back, Teal'c,"_** She points the hand device at you. **"Or I kill him."**  
  
...You're nowhere near as shocked by this turn of events as you should be.  
  
"You are going to kill him regardless," you observe.  
  
 **"Oh, Damn it. Why did you have to make your Jaffa so Smart, Ba'al?"** Qetesh yanks the sword out of Ba'al's back and fires the hand device- but the yanking motion gives you time to run for the hallway.  
  
The concussive blast explodes out through the doorway- sending some Jaffa who were caught unawares caught off guard.  
  
You Run through the corridors- yelling, warning, _"Jaffa! Treason! Qetesh betrays our Lord!"_  
  
Many recognize the code words for what they are- they turn on Qetesh as she rounds the corridor and begins firing concussive blasts from her hand device.  
  
You run for the Ring Transporter- and have the smallest satisfaction of watching Qetesh's frustrated snarl be wiped away by a transport beam as she arrives moments too late.  
  
You arrive in a specific Al'kesh- the one you had running the scans- and you inform the Jaffa manning it- "Cloak the ship and travel to the coordinates we discovered, by special Order of the Sovereign."  
  
"Yes, Master Teal'c!"  
  


* * *

  
  
"Is that what I think it is?" O'neill asks, as everyone stares at the zoomed in map.  
  
"Yep," Jonas says with a grim nod. "It's always them, it feels like."  
  
"The Russians have the Stargate," Carter states the obvious.  
  
"Set a course, Vala," Mitchel orders. "We've got a timeline to save."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PAUSE FOR DIRECTORS COMMENTARY: 
> 
> Soooo. All that set up way back about Qetesh indulging in Artoria's Sarcophagus induced Pain/Pleasure flip? Yeeeah. Meet this timelines equivalent to the FATE VERSE concept of "ALTERS!" Specifically, SABER ALTER- an Artoria Pendragon who went dark and used the SPEAR over the SWORD more often than not. It's sarcophagus induced here, rather than a natural course of life that she could have followed, but the general concept remains mostly the same in a sort of round about kind of way.
> 
> That is to say, I just thought it a neat twist to make it the HOST who went Goa'uld on the Goa'uld inside her and decided to do the Back Stabbing this time around instead of the other way around. I mean, canon Qetesh backstabbing Ba'al? *SO* Predictable. Artoria Backstabbing Ba'al on the other hand? Now that's a twist that shocks the mind! XD
> 
> And NOW we have Teal'c and SG-1 both on their way to get to the Giza Gate that, wow, how about that, the Russians got their hands on. Remember that Russian Sub that was nosing around? Yeah. Take a wild guess. 
> 
> Next Chapter: A6A5: ACT 6 ACT 4: Setting the Wheels In Motion.


	15. A6A5: ACT 6 ACT 4: Setting the Wheels In Motion.

**"Hail Cronus,"** 'Qetesh' orders, entering the bridge of Ba'al's mother ship and taking her seat on the throne.  
  
Cronus appears on the front screen soon enough. _**"My Queen,"** _he bows his head. **_"To what do I owe the honor?"_**  
  
 **"Ba'al has been betrayed by his First Prime, Teal'c,"** 'Qetesh' reports. **"He is dead, but his last orders were to blast the Tau'ri into extinction."**  
  
 _ **"Of course,"**_ Cronus nodded. **_"Is there anything else?"_**  
  
 **"We shall return in three days,"** 'Qetesh' reports. **"The more of the planet you have destroyed, the more richly you shall be rewarded. _And if you see Teal'c, Kill Him."_**  
  
 _ **"As the Sovereign wishes,"** _Cronus nods. **_"The King is dead, long live the Queen."_**  
  
 ** _"Actually,"_** 'Qetesh' smirks. **"Make that a _Long Live the King_ instead. This host of mine used to BE a King, in actuality."**  
  
 _ **"As it is. Long Live the King,"**_ Cronus says, and cuts the communication.  
  
'Qetesh' orders- **"Jaffa, set a course for Praxyon, and engage the Hyperdrive, max speed."**  
  
"Yes, my Queen!"  
  
'Qetesh' observes quietly to herself as space warps into hyperspace, "A mere kingdom was trivial. This world? _This world is not enough._ "  
  


* * *

  
  
You are Teal'c, and you scowl as the report of Lord Ba'al's ship exiting Hyperspace appearing on screen.

"Our only hope now is to arrive at the planet Praxyon before she does, and the only way to do that is by-" Chappa'ai is the right word but your mouth utters the foreign phrase, "Stargate" in a language you should not know.

Then, your Al'kesh rocks with an impact- Alarms sound- Gliders inbound.  
  
They have found you far too quickly.   
  
And then two of your men turns their Zats on you. The others look torn in surprise of who to side with.  
  
"Shol'va!" you snarl.  
  


* * *

  
  
A proximity alarm sounds on yet another Al'kesh.  
  
"Uh oh!" Vala reports.  
  
"What uh-oh?" Mitchel asks.  
  
"Multiple contacts approaching at a thirty six degree angle from above- looks like an Al'kesh being hounded by Gliders," Vala replies.  
  
"What the hell's going on there?" O'neill asks.  
  
"Move to intercept," Cassandra suddenly orders.  
  
"What!? Are you nuts?" Vala asks. "We're cloaked, if we move to intercept-!"  
  
"They're going to the same place we are!" Cassandra says. "That's the same Al'kesh from before!"  
  
"So?" O'neill asks. "Why should we care?"  
  
 _"Because it's Teal'c, Damn It!"_ Cassandra says- a spark of actual lightning sparking out of her hair, startling everyone as a few lights flicker in turn.  
  
"...Cassie, is that a Vibe?" Mordred asks.  
  
"Damn Straight It's a Vibe!" Cassandra nods.  
  
"Set course to intercept!" Mitchel orders. "Take out those Gliders!"  
  
Ka'turnal grumbles as Vala changes course- **"This had better be damned worth it."**  
  


* * *

  
  
You roar, slamming one of the traitors to the floor, and then bashing their face in with the tail end of your staff weapon.  
  
Thus dealt with, you check the damage...  
  
Your loyal men are dead... and the traitors are dead with them.  
  
The main console got hit by a stray Staff shot, navigation is DOWN.  
  
You are going to die crashing into this ocean if you do not die from damage from the pursuing Gliders first.  
  
And that's when there's a shout over the very much secure Jaffa Communication lines- a _ **"YAAAAHOOOO!"**_  
  
An Al'kesh suddenly decloaks behind the Gliders and opens fire- blasting them to pieces.  
  
Then, it pulls up alongside your Al'kesh, and a transmission comes through- in that same familiar yet unknown language as before- _"Attention damaged Al'kesh, if there's a Jaffa onboard named Teal'c, I know you probably don't have reasons to trust us, but ring aboard now before your ship crashes nose first into the Ocean."_  
  
For some reason- the voice speaking to you, a young female, sounds incredibly familiar despite you never hearing it before now.  
  
You have no other option.  
  
You go for the Ring Platform, and transport over to the other Al'kesh.  
  
You arrive in their Ring Room facing a squad of four... Tau'ri??  
  
...How did they get their hands on this... No. That's a stupid question.  
  
You recognize a trademarked STUPID SG-1 STUNT when you see it.  
  
Wait...  
  


* * *

  
  
"What is 'SG-1'?" Teal'c inquires aloud- almost... stunned by his tone of voice and the look of confused familiarity on his face.  
  
"Is he supposed to ask that?" O'neill asks of the stunned Jaffa sitting on the floor of the Ring room.  
  
"Probably not, but it's a good sign," Cassie says, kneeling before the Jaffa. "Hello, Teal'c. I'm Cassandra Fraiser. You don't know me, but I know you."  
  
Teal'c stares at the girl for a moment, frowning. "You are right, I do not know you, and yet, Cassandra Fraiser, I feel as If I have known you your entire life. How is that possible?"  
  
"I'm starting to get some serious dejavu too," Davis remarks. "Because is it just me, or is the symbol on his forehead changing back and forth?"  
  
Teal'c reached his hand up to the golden mark upon his forehead. One moment, it is Ba'al's sigil... the next... Apophis's?  
  
"What..." Teal'c frowns. "What sorcery is this?"  
  
"The timeline's collapsing around us," Cassie says, standing, a determined look in her eyes. "I think... I think this reality's gone so far off the rails it can't maintain its cohesion anymore."  
  
"What happened out there, T?" O'neill asks- and then seems startled by his own familiar tone of the nickname.  
  
"Qetesh murdered Ba'al, Colonel O'neill-" Teal'c pauses- frowning. "I am... to... follow orders and use the Stargate to travel to Praxyon before Qetesh arrives."  
  
"The final duty of a First Prime," Cassandra nods. "We should've figured the decay would've accelerated without Ba'al to support it."  
  
"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Davis asks. "I'm pretty confused all of a sudden."   
  
"It's simple," Mordred smirks. "We're going to travel back in time and fucking undo what Ba'al did to our timeline."  
  
"And how are we to do that, Mordred Pendragon?" Teal'c asks- stopping once again at the familiarity. "I know you all. This... my Lord.... Ba'al was the one who caused this reality using the device on Praxyon."

"Pretty much," Cassandra answers.  
  
Teal'c stands, and looks to Cassandra. "Tell me, Cassandra Fraiser, I have the most nagging feeling from deep within my heart that my people were free, and that Ba'al's promises were based on knowing what I already sought and accomplished."  
  
Cassandra grins. "You don't need me to tell you what you already know, Teal'c."  
  
There was another flicker- a slight twist and click of the timeline as a pair of frayed edges that had once broken was pulled together by a master worker's thread and needle- and suddenly Teal'c was not wearing Jaffa Armor, and infact, none of them within the Al'kesh were wearing the clothes they'd been wearing before...  
  
"Oh, hey, Nice threads!" Vala remarked, glancing at the sudden replacement of her clothes with bog standard SGC BDUs in Desert coloration- complete with the appropriate EARTH Point or Origin and SG-1 team identifier patches.  
  
Everyone was wearing their proper mission uniforms. Even the kid Vala had brought along suddenly had a copy of one of Penny's old kid-sized uniforms.   
  
Each and every one of them had an SG-1 patch... save for Davis, whose patch was clearly embroidered with SG-2's number instead, and in addition, his uniform color was black instead of tan.  
  
"How come I'm SG-2, and how come I'm not upset by that?" Davis frowns. Then, he blinked, because he was suddenly wearing a pair of sunglasses that he hadn't been wearing before, as well. _"And why am I wearing the most awesome shades ever?"_  
  
"The timeline's collapsing, Uncle Davis," Cassie remarked, rolling her shoulders, checking her pockets, and finding that, yeah, everything was exactly how it was supposed to be when they'd all left Earth. "Try to keep up!"  
  


* * *

  
  
Stitch wiped a bead of sweat away from his forehead as he continued his delicate work.  
  
Yes, things were starting to come back into place now. Things were being supported properly where they should be, and the proper timeline was starting to reassert itself.  
  
Soon, he'd have this whole dreadful mess fixed and they could continue on with their lives as things were supposed to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DIRECTORS COMMENTARY: 
> 
> Qetesh!Artoria's going to try and do what Ba'al and take over the timeline. I can't see that working out for her any better than it did Ba'al if she manages to succeed. 
> 
> HEY! Now THERE'S a twist of a sea based fight scene! Al'kesh to the rescue of another Al'kesh. Still a bunch of Gliders getting blown up, though.
> 
> Teal'c's back onboard with SG-1, and we get to see the Timeline starting to vibrate wildly between realities again.
> 
> Stitch continues his work patching up the torn coat- a circumstantially simultaneous act to SG-1 moving to fix the timeline as a whole.
> 
> Next Chapter: A6A5: ACT 6 ACT 5 ACT 1: Bifurcation Samba.


	16. A6A5: ACT 6 ACT 5 ACT 1: Bifurcation Samba.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, Character Deaths Ahoy in this chapter. Might be painful to watch.

The Al'kesh landed atop an abandoned Russian Research Facility, and dropped the cloak to extend the forceshields over the building.  
  
A moment later....  
  
The ring platform burst through the ceiling, and beamed down Mitchel, Cassandra, Jonas, Mordred, Vala, Daniel, O'neill, Carter, Teal'c, and Davis.  
  
The facility was pitch black, as it lacked power, and flashlights came on immediately.  
  
"There," Mordred points at the Stargate- miraculously upright, and sandwiched between a pair of small, short, and box like stairs. "Our ticket out of here."  
  
"I lost my remote Dialing device when my uniform was changed," Teal'c says. "We have no means of powering it."  
  
"Wouldn't say that," Mitchel decaptchalogues the device Jude had made, and it's glowing orange core lights up the entire room. "Remote Dialer? Check."  
  
There's suddenly the sound of an orbital blast striking the Al'kesh shield from above- but the building shakes.  
  
"The ship has been discovered," Teal'c says. "Its shields will not hold long."  
  
"Let's make it snappy then," O'neill says as they all head for the Gate. "What are the chances that thing dials this Praxyon place without us doing anything?"   
  
"Suckers Bet," Cassie replies. "Jude built that thing based off of info from an unstable time loop already finished from our end."  
  
"Gray's letter says it has two addresses stored," Mitchel says, taking the small, round device and sticking it to the Stargate's fifth chevron. "First one was Earth, so the second..."  
  
The Stargate begins to dial immediately.  
  
The first few Symbols have Teal'c nodding. "That is Praxyon's address."  
  
And within moments, the Stargate finishes Dialing- everyone- without even needing to be told- takes cover at the sides.   
  
_**WAAAAA WAAAAA! KAWOOOOOOOOSH!**_  
  
The vortex subsides, and Daniel remarks, "That never gets old."  
  
"Tell me about it!" Carter grins.  
  
The building shakes, and Mitchel orders, "Let's Go!"  
  
The team rushes through the Stargate, Davis hesitating just in time to watch a blast power through the ceiling. He leaps through the event horizon, and flings himself through to save his own skin.  
  
The wormhole flashes by without fanfare from his perspective- but from ours...  
  
Oh, is it a welcome sight.  
  
The blue vortex stretches out across space-time, powering through in a straight line towards its destination... Half way through, the vortex starts to take on a green tone- vaguely reminiscent of the Pegasus Galaxy Wormholes... Close, but not quite right.  
  
Davis lands on the other side of the Gate, and shudders at the sight. "Holy fucking shit, this place is wrong."  
  
The room was a massive, towering chamber- at the center of which was a massive computer console that went from ceiling down... well, past the floor, really. Because the FLOOR was a series of THREE CIRCLES in triangular formation around a ring-shaped walkway bridging the three around the central spire.  
  
On one circle platform was the Stargate. On the second platform was a Ring Platform. And on the Third... Was an Ancient control console seemingly ripped from Atlantis, along with an inbuilt DHD next to it- also seemingly stolen from Atlantis.  
  
"This is Ba'al's fail safe room," Teal'c explains. "I was to use it to travel through time, and prevent his death, however..."  
  
"Doesn't feel so right in the moment, does it?" Mitchel gazes around.  
  
"This is the secret for which Ba'al was murdered," Teal'c agrees. "Qetesh is on her way here. We must use this device for our own ends before she can arrive... and destroy it after we use it."  
  
"Carter, Cassie, Vala, see if you can figure out the control console," Mitchel says. "Get this thing working. Everyone else... take point?" He looks to O'neill who nods.  
  
"Yeah, everyone take point and guard that Ring Platform! Shoot anyone who comes through because we SURE AS HELL did not send out invitations!" O'neill agrees.  
  


* * *

  
  
Cassandra Fraiser holds the fussy two year old in her arms as she watches holograms of stars appear above the projector.   
  
"There have to be satellites orbiting every one of these stars," Carter says. "There's hundreds of them, each sending real-time telemetry back to this computer through sub-space."  
  
"How exactly does that add up to a Time Machine?" Daniel asks. "And I feel stupid for asking that because I just remembered something I shouldn't have!"  
  
 **"Solar Flares,"** Ka'turnal says, pointing at the current star, with a flare engaging that says it would send someone forwards in time to the year 2019.  
  
"It's Callie's database of flares, except digitized in real time!" Cassie stares at it all.   
  
"So... What button do we press to make it go?" O'neill asks, glancing away from the ring platform.  
  
"It's not much simpler than that, actually," Carter smiles, gazing at the controls for a moment. "We just need to choose a time and place before Ba'al can put his plan into motion!"  
  
The Ring Platform Hums to life.  
  
"They are Here!" Teal'c announces.  
  
 **VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM!**  
  
"Cassie!" Mordred orders. "Make the choice for us!"  
  
 _ **VAROOOOOOOSHH!**_  
  
"Right!" Cassie starts eye-surfing through the results of active flares as Carter drags the list through the various possibilities.  
  
 **VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM!**  
  
"Vala! Guard them!" Mitchel orders as bullets start flying into the Jaffa that just ringed into the room.  
  
"Got it!" she draws her weapon, and takes aim, kneeling in a good position to take shots at any of the Jaffa taking shots at Carter and Cassie.  
  
The first wave down- **VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM!**  
  
 _ **VAROOOOOOOSHH!**_  
  
In comes the second wave.

"That one," Cassie points at a star.  
  
 **VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM!**  
  
Guns fire again- Daniel takes a staff blast to the shoulder- sending him toppling to the ground. Moments later- Davis takes a shot to the gut.  
  
 _"DAVIS! DANIEL!"_ Jack cries out, and takes out the Jaffa that made those shot. "SAM! HURRY IT UP!"  
  
"We found one but you're not going to like it!" Sam answers as the second wave of Jaffa are taken out.  
  
 _"WHY NOT!?"_ Jack asks- **VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM!** In comes the third wave.  
  
"It goes to 1929!" Carter answers.  
  
 _ **VAROOOOOOOSHH!**_  
  
 **VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM!**  
  
"It's Ten years too soon!" Jonas yells.  
  
 _ **"IT'LL DO!"**_ Cassie tells them, loudly.  
  
"Good!" Jonas agrees. "Just dial fast because I'm about out of bul-"  
  
He takes a staff blast to the leg- and then stumbles over Daniel's body and careens over the edge of the railing-less facility.  
  
 _"JONAS!"_ Mordred cries out.  
  
 _“DIALING!”_ Carter yells, and the Stargate begins to spin. “ONCE IT’S UP, WE’LL HAVE LESS THAN TWENTY SECONDS TO-!”  
  
A Jaffa noticed the three women standing by the DHD, and the Stargate beginning to dial, and made the connections.  
  
He opened fire.  
  
Sam took a staff blast to her back before she could finish her sentence.  
  
Cassie felt the vibes flare- her death surely imminent despite her assured survival into the Future- and she doubted for a moment.  
  
But then Vala- and with her Ka’turnal- shoved Cassie and the two year old kid out of the line of the next shot- tanking it in the back instead.  
  
 _ **“Go...”**_ Ka’turnal whispered to Cassie, her eyes flashing. **_“Please...!”_**  
  
“Not again!” Cassie whispers, staring on, stunned, at history repeating itself.  
  
Nirrti saving a Fraiser.  
  
 _ **“CARTER!”** _O’neill yelled out- rising for a suicide charge--  
  
He took a blast to the stomach for his efforts- and went flying back into the console that Carter’s body lay down at.  
  
 **WAAA WAAA! KAWOOOSH!** Red Lights flared.  
  
“TEAL’C!” Mitchel yelled- begged- requested- and the Jaffa stands to the occasion raising his staff with a yell of _“JAFFAAAA!”_  
  
Fire is drawn his way- Mordred, Mitchel, and Cassandra run for the Stargate- and the proud Jaffa warrior tanks several hits to his stomach and chest while firing back the entire time.  
  
The red light flashes Green- Cassie leaps through the gate with the kid in arm. Mitchel dives through moments later. Mordred is leaping for the gate when a staff blast strikes him in his right leg, he tumbles badly from the change in momentum, clipping the shot limb against the gate's edge before slipping through entirely.  
  
The Gate shuts down, and finally Teal’c falls to the ground, his strength leaving him.  
  
 **VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM!**  
  
 _ **VAROOOOOOOSHH!**_  
  
 **VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM-VRRM!**  
  
'Qetesh' arrives, flanked by Jaffa, and approaches the still barely alive Teal’c, observing the remaining corpses.  
  
Davis... Daniel... Jack and Sam... Vala and Ka’turnal, presumably... No Jonas, though. His body having long since vanished out of sight, likely in a puff of smoke as well.  
  
 **“Oh, Teal’c... You just...”** She shakes her head with a laugh, and kneels down next to him. Her eyes flash. **“You are the most stubborn Jaffa I have ever known. Perhaps when I reset history, I will choose you as my First Prime, hm?”**  
  
“I... think not... Qetesh...” Teal’c growls out with pain as the bodies begin to vanish in bursts of smoke. Daniel- then Davis- Sam and Jack- the various dead Jaffa bodies that hadn’t fallen over the edges of the platforms... All of them vanished and reset.  
  
 _ **“And Why’s That?”**_ The woman who truly owned the body of Artoria Pendragon smirked, laying on as much Goa'uld echo as she could.  
  
 _“I...”_ Teal’c raises his left hand slowly- he is clutching something. **“Die.”**  
  
Too late, Artoria sees the blinking red light- but she fails to recognize it for what it is as it's held up directly in front of her face.  
  
 _ **“FREE!”**_  
  
Teal’c’s hand releases the lever of the Tau'ri built Hand Grenade right in front of her smug, assuming face.  
  
The resulting gift of an explosion was much larger and brighter than it reasonably should have, and did not leave any bodies behind as the Timeline was Forcibly Reset by SG-1's arrival in 1929.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DIRECTORS COMMENTARY:
> 
> Hoo. Another hard chapter to get through. 
> 
> So, yeah, Russians had the Gate and had no idea what it was or what to do with it.
> 
> With more people involved, the bigger the shootout and the bigger the death toll. BUT. The more people who got through as well! If there hadn't been more targets to hit, chances were, only Mitchel would have made it into the past, just like in canon Continuum. Which, YEAH. We know THAT doesn't happen. 
> 
> Call back to Ba'al's bomb on the Achilles, there, at the end. Someone sees the blinking lights, and while one recognizes it as a bomb, the other... Doesn't. It also serves as a subtle SAO:Phantom Bullet arc reference! PRESENT GRENADE! :D
> 
> BOOM.
> 
> Next Chapter: A6A5: ACT 6 ACT 5 ACT 2: MOBEUS DOUBLE REACH AROUND.
> 
> In which a brick joke lands.


	17. A6A5: ACT 6 ACT 5 ACT 2: MOBIUS DOUBLE REACH AROUND.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Background Music to play that's not sequenced to this chapter, but "Resonant Chamber" kinda sets the mood:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toXNVbvFXyk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Another Ba'al gets brutally Popped. What a Mess.

**ATLANTIC OCEAN. THE ACHILLES, 1939.**   
  


* * *

  
The Cargo Ship Achilles steams ahead- westward bound- under the light of a full moon piercing through the frigid clouds and the nighttime air.  
  
The boat is old, with rust visible all over its surface, and barnacles clinging to places undesirable.   
  
A crewman carrying a lantern approaches the Captain's office- his rank a Bosun, and he enters as the Captain relays a course change to the Helmsman.  
  
"Make your course to Six, One, Eight."  
  
"6-1-8, Aye, Captain," the helmsman leaves.  
  
"We'd be in Boston right now if we weren't zigzagging all over the damned Atlantic," the Bosun remarks.  
  
The Captain looks up- and in the light of the lantern, looks remarkably like an elderly Cameron Mitchel with a beard.   
  
"That's because we're not going to Boston," the Captain says. "We're going to New York. We can't make it easy for the thieves who want our cargo, now can we?."  
  
"We're not at war yet," the Bosun remarks. "Besides, we're too high in the water for a U-Boat to waste a torpedo."  
  
"Who said anything about U-Boats?" The Captain asks.   
  
The boat vibrates- the Stargate is Dialing In- this time, the Captain catches the Coffee Mug before it can hit the floor.  
  
The captain makes the order- "Check to see the cargo's secure."  
  
"You're never going to tell me what it is, are you?" the Bosun asks.  
  
"Why don't you ask the security detail that?" the Captain asks in turn, with a sly smirk.  
  
The Bosun leaves as ordered, muttering about conspiracies as he left.  
  


* * *

  
  
The Bosun Enters the cargo hold, carrying his lantern- there is the sound of Stargate Chevrons locking amidst the sound of it spinning...  
  
The Bosun is stopped from checking on the suspect crate by the presence of two individuals- one of whom looks remarkably similar to the Captain- the other, a woman, with fire red hair, and green eyes that bizarrely glowed in the dim lighting of his lantern. She primes a Shotgun, and lays down on the floor next to the suspect crate.  
  
“We’re about to be boarded,” Mitchel Cameron spoke, handing the Bosun a futuristic rifle. “Take cover over there and don’t fire unless I do!”  
  
The Bosun does as ordered, without question.  
  
They’d been advised of this possibility when these two said they were SECURITY FOR THE LANGFORD SHIPMENT.   
  
They take cover- and with a hand gesture, Mitchel insists the Bosun adjusts to back up, and kneel down.  
  
The Stargate cries out- _**WAAA WAAA!**_  
  
The **_KAWOOOSH_** pierces through the side of the ship- but this time, there are no casualties to be had from its establishment.  
  
The Bosun stares, readying his weapon...  
  
A ramp exits the gate.  
  
Jaffa begin to exit- and Mitchel and the Bosun open fire.  
  
As for the woman on the ground- the Bosun can see a deranged grin on her face. He swears her eyes flash golden in anticipation.  
  
And then Mitchel raises his hand and ceases firing- the Bosun halts as ordered.  
  
There’s a pause...  
  
Then, Ba’al steps through the Gate.  
  
Cassandra Fraiser leaps to her feet, pumping the Shotgun, and pressing its double barrels up squarely against Ba’al’s jaw.  
  
He barely has the time to process Mitchel’s presence across from him, let alone the weapon pressed up against his face, before Cassandra intones with a loud, Goa’uld infused voice- _**“Penny Drops, Bastard!”**_  
  
 _ **KCHK-BWAM!**_  
  
And Ba’al’s face is blown clean off of his head.  
  
His body tumbles to the ground, Cassandra backs away, and Mitchel and the Bosun take care of the last Jaffa to exit the Gate with ease.  
  
The gate shuts down, and the Captain observes the scene- standing behind the gate with his handgun drawn.   
  
“Well,” He states, approaching Mitchel. “That was... a boarding point I wasn’t expecting.”  
  
“Yeeeah...” Mitchel scratches at the back of his head. “That it was.”  
  


* * *

A week later, after arriving safely in New York harbor, and making many new friends...  
  
Mitchel Cameron returned home to the small apartment that he lived in in this time.  
  
“Daddy!” A boy came running up to him- 12 years old-  
  
“Hey, Jonas!” Mitchel knelt and hugged the boy tight. “Your Pa doin’ alright?”  
  
“Yeah!” the boy- Jonas Cameron- nodded. “Though... Pa’s cranky his leg’s stiff again.”  
  
“I’ll just have to give it a tune up, then,” Mitchel smiled. “Why don’t you go outside and say hi to Aunt Janet, and help her unload the car?”  
  
“Okay!” the boy ran outside, to where ‘Janet Freeman’ was busy unloading bags from a car.  
  
Mitchel wandered into the apartment’s back bedroom area, and found Mordred skulking in an office chair, working on the dis-embodied metal leg on the desk before him.  
  
“Hey,” Mitchel greeted. “We’re back.”  
  
Mordred jumped in his seat, and spun it around with his good left leg, a wide grin on his face. “Hey! Get over here! I can’t walk with one leg!”  
  
Mitchel came over, and knelled down so he was at eye level with Mordred. “This better?”  
  
“Much!” He nodded- then kissed Mitchel on the lips. “Soooo... How’d it go with the security job?”  
  
“Ba’al came down with a nasty case of sawed off shotgun face,” Mitchel smirked. “So, I’d say pretty damn good.”  
  
“Awesome,” Mordred leaned back into the chair. “Maybe now we can put this whole damned thing behind us.”  
  
“Oh, for sure,” Mitchel agreed.  
  
There was a pause.  
  
Then- they both burst into laughter.   
  
“Oh my god,” Mordred wheezed. “I can’t believe I said that with a straight face.”  
  
“Me either,” Mitchel grinned. “So! How’s about I give that leg a tune up?”  
  
“Sounds great to me,” Mordred grinned in turn. “Cause, I can’t get it to stop squeaking when I bend my knee!”  
  


* * *

  
  
Hours later, in a different apartment...  
  
 _[So... It’s done then?]_ Ka’turnal inquired.  
  
"That it is," the woman once known as Cassandra sighed as she closed a photo album tight. "We did it. Ba’al’s derailment is derailed, so technically, it’s all back on the rails."  
  
She massaged at the corners of her eyes where they met at the nose.   
  
“I’m hungry, and I’m tired...” she muttered. “And quite honestly, I’m ready to crash in bed for a few damned weeks.”  
  
 _[Heh. Yes, we should rest well before the next major hurdle.]_  
  
Janet Freeman laughed. “Yeah. Adoption. Now that’s a scary hurdle to face.”  
  
Scary, yes. But...  
  
They could do it.  
  
That old chapter of their life was behind them now... and now, it was time for the new one to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PAUSE FOR DIRECTORS COMMENTARY:
> 
> The mood setting strings of Resonant Chamber signify the fact that the timeline has been set right enough that it's playing as it should, and the strings of time are no longer snapping apart at the threads. Similarly, the Coffee Mug not shattering and being saved stands as a visual sign that the Timeline has been saved. 
> 
> The REAL major paradox as it turns out was SG-1 not being there to Stop Ba'al to begin with. 1929! Ten years worth of extra unaccounted for butterflies. But they wouldn't have BEEN there to stop Ba'al if Ba'al hadn't been left unopposed. Man, this whole situation is such a fucking Grandfather paradox it makes even MY head spin.
> 
> Penny In the Air > Penny Drops. This is a simple yet effective bit of Payoff Ba'al has no idea what it even means... because his damned Clone set him up with it AFTER he left! That Cassie's borrowing Ka'turnal's Goa'uld voice modulation there to deliver the line is all the more confusing for him. And then he's dead. BAM. POP.
> 
> From the moment I first laid in the hints about the Achilles being boarded and saved by future Cam and Cassie, I KNEW Cassie was going to be the one to blow Ba'al's face off with a fucking shotgun. Because A: The Corpse could NOT be identified in the future to hint as to WHO the real culprit was, for timeline stability. B: A Shotgun to the face is a DAMN personal attack, and someone needs to have a LOT of hate for a person to blow their face off like that. Cassie's gone through enough emotional turmoil to make that choice. Ba'al tried to wipe her family out of the timeline? Well, she doesn't even give his last corpse the benefit of having a face to be remembered by. 
> 
> Speaking of Ka'turnal... When we weren't paying attention during the chaos of the last chapter, Cassie took the symbiote into herself. Consider it a karmic payoff of the family debt owed when one saves someones life at the expense of their own. That means, YES, there IS now a surviving Nirrti/Ka'turnal wandering about in the main time line. God, just think about how weird it had to be to see her own death actually air on a TV Documentary! 
> 
> Funnily enough, Polly and Joe Langford named their kid Jonas. Foreshadowed when Vala picked up the kid from daycare. Called 'im "Jo" after all. It ironically serves as a nod to the literally Fallen Jonas of SG-1 in its own way. It's little Jonas here who'll go on to have Claude, who'll marry Jeanne, and they'll have Artoria Gray. 
> 
> Mordred lost a leg to staff blast. Hoo. That had to hurt. The Leg thing AND the Kid to take care of also explains why Mordred wasn't *ON* The Achilles in any of the scenes showing the immediate aftermath of this brutal time paradox.
> 
> TOMORROW, THE FINAL CHAPTER, the End of Act Six Act 5: ACT 7: Extraction, Take 2. 
> 
> I'm going to take the opportunity now to advise you all that I'm taking a two-ish week break after I finish up this Act for Crazy Holiday Scheduling allowances, as well as to work some more on a second draft of one of my Original Novel Concepts that I hope to start shopping around in the next year. We'll see if it takes off. XD


	18. A6A5: ACT 7: Extraction, Take Two.

**EARTH DATE: JUNE 21TH, 2003.**  
  
 **DIASPORA DATE: 01/01/0007**.  
  
 **"The Prisoner will step forwards!"** Egeria calls, and Ba'al steps out of the stasis chamber. Four Jaffa Guards activate their Zats, and aim at him.  
  
"Well," Ba'al remarks, sounding remarkably calm in his human tone of voice. "This is a frosty reception if ever I've seen one."  
  
 **"Ba'al,"** Egeria speaks, narrowing her eyes at the Goa'uld. **"Last of the Goa'uld System Lords. Murderer of untold millions. These are your last words. Speak."**  
  
Ba'al smirks. "I've nothing to say to the Tok'ra, but..." He glances at SG-1, and takes a few short steps down a staircase, and then across the room over to them. "Well well well, if it isn't SG-1 Squared. In the Flesh," He intones, frowning.   
  
"How's it going, Boccie?" Jack asks.  
  
“...I swear that I’ve seen this line up before, if differently, but at the same time...” Ba'al glances around at the room, Frowning. "You ever get the feeling you’ve done something twice?"  
  
"It’s called De Ja Vu," Jack smiles, sounding jovial and happy. "Get it all the time, what with all the time travel."  
  
"How Nice for you," Ba'al grimaces.   
  
"So, about those last words?" Jack asks.  
  
"...Fine," Ba'al smiles. He glances at SG-1. For a long moment, he seems confused.  
  
“What are you looking at?” Vala asks, glaring at him when she notices his gaze lingering.  
  
“...Nothing,” Ba’al shakes his head. “I was going to make some sly remark off the top of my head, but it seems to have slipped my mind.”  
  
“Really now?” Cassandra asks, smirking in turn, and feeling vaguely satisfied for some reason. “Why’s that?”  
  
“Can’t say,” Ba’al shrugs. "It slipped my mind, after all."  
  
“Maybe at the end of your life, you find you’ve run out of words, finally?” Skaara offers.  
  
“Ah... you know,” Ba’al gave a pleasant smile. “I think that _might be it.”_  
  
 **"It is time,"** Egeria intones.  
  
And Ba'al smirks. **"Well, that's my cue,"** he puts on the Voice. _**"It’s Showtime, Everybody!"**_ And he marches over to the nearby extraction table to be strapped in.  
  
 **“Begin the extraction process!”** Egeria ordered.  
  
Ba’al’s table was raised, the bar was placed in place, and the needle and container drew towards his head.  
  
A laser cut out and began pointing at Ba’als forehead, marking the place as the needle drew closer and closer...  
  
Ba’al glanced one last time at SG-1...  
  
And then the needle pierced flesh, and Ba’al screamed- and he screamed until his voice was normal and human.  
  
The needle container retracted, and Ba’al’s host slumped forwards, unconscious.  
  
Egeria grabbed the container, and held it high into the air.  
  
 _ **“BEHOLD!”**_ she roared. **“The _LAST_ of the System Lords!”**  
  
And with that, she smashed the vial on the ground.  
  
Ba’al’s symbiote flared out into the air- screaming, writhing, and then- with a puff of smoke, dies.  
  
“...That’s... It?” Mordred asks.  
  
 _“Ye~ep,”_ Mitchel nods. “That’s it.”  
  
“I... Guess that was worth seeing?” Mordred frowns.  
  
“That’s it?” Jude asks, adjusting his glasses. “That’s all you’ve got to say?”  
  
“Well, you guys made it out to be this big deal so I expected something more...” Mordred made a vaguely explosive hand gesture. “Boom!”  
  
“Nope. That's pretty much the extraction ceremony, right there.” Jack says. “Yup. So.... Lunch, anyone?”  
  
There’s a few murmurs of consideration.  
  
“I’m buying?” O’neill offers.  
  
 **“Oh! Hell yes!”** Egeria meanders over, having heard the word lunch be brought up.  
  
Mitchel agrees, “I’m in!”  
  
“Oh, definitely,” Jude nods.  
  
“An O’neill paid lunch?” Cassandra pumps a fist into the air. “Score!”  
  
Then, she grabs Jude's left hand with her right, and leans in to kiss him on the cheek.  
  
“Actually, Jack, I was hoping we could go over the plans for the new moon base,” Sam smiles.  
  
“What _moon base_?” Jack asks.  
  
The group of SG-1 begins to walk away, but Vala hesitates.  
  
Daniel sees her pausing, and when Vala looks to him for guidance, Daniel nods. “Go ahead. Help him out. I know what it’s like. He’ll need the company.”  
  
“Thanks,” Vala nods, and heads over to the host, now free, conscious, and being removed from the restraints.  
  
“Have fun,” Daniel smiles, and then goes to join the rest of SG-1.  
  
“Well,” Jonas says as Daniel catches up. “He’s in for an interesting afternoon.”  
  
“Indeed,” Teal’c intones.  
  


* * *

  
  
Stitch shook his head. What was he thinking, leaving it be?  
  
He got up, and began stitching the small tear without much fanfare.   
  
Just because English was dead, and the Felt disbanded, didn't mean that the Time Tailor didn't have a job to do. The Cairo Overcoat didn't need a master to wear it, after all. It simply represented the massive patchwork thread-work of Reality, and who said that needed a master?  
  
No. All anybody dealing with time travel needs is a Damn Fine and Competent Tailor.  
  
It was a quick patch job, and Stitch smiled after he finished. There was no way that tiny tear was going to expand into something like that massive set of rips and gashes that had appeared back in 1939. Not NOW, at least.  
  
He re-set his Record player, re-lit his cigarette, and went back to his newspaper.  
  
Hmm... Last Goa'uld System Lord, Ba'al, extracted and executed, eh?  
  
"Good riddance," Stitch felt a tiny, but powerful laugh welling up within his chest for no damn good reason. But hell, it felt appropriate to let loose.

* * *

[ **END OF ACT 6 ACT 5.** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_TxCNF5Vgw)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CUE THOSE CREDITS!! Song is Steins;Gate OP: HACKING TO THE GATE, in a Symphonic orchestration. 
> 
> And similarly, when this story returns in two weeks, we'll return with the opening chapters for ACT 6 ACT 6: Hacking To The Gate with the chapter: [S] CHIXIE: Recap. 
> 
> And cue the Director's Commentary:
> 
> Ba'al's dialogue changes here from the original variation because he sees Vala hasn't vanished, and he simply assumes that the other Ba'al went and got himself killed- rightly so. That, and he gets the damnedest sense that he's done it all before already. He knows the plan has failed, so why go out being all vague about his other self when he can actually go out on his own note.
> 
> The Extraction Ceremony is pretty underwhelming all things considered. Though HOW they get the symbiote into that tank through such a TINY needle I'll never know! *Said with a tone of utter sarcasm.*
> 
> O'neill's buying lunch though! How often does that happen? 
> 
> We see modern!Stitch going to the trouble of fixing the break Ba'al made when he jumped back without hesitation on this side of things. Thus, it doesn't rip backwards and forwards and all around causing a repeat of the movie we just finished ...reading. Rather than watching. Heh.
> 
> Anyways. That's the end of Act 6 Act 5. I hope you all enjoyed it. We'll be taking a brief break for the winter holidays and be returning in two weeks just in time for the new year. I'll see you all on the other side, and thanks for tagging along with this wild ride up to this point. :) 
> 
> _Calum Traveler


End file.
